
















eriieyy vai 
/ Libr | "hee Le ba cn 
Wh dete 














of 
ve NOOK i Ny olheriee + 
eaten ‘ y etre uh ” onda Hot he 
MEM bOi ht fod Brite Oey shodttebe * 
ft Wd ree toy Lame Newiem dwell Ad cob ite Hanh ie 4 ede sphesd 
the 





i Ne 




















































































‘ be Ge 8 ey Wea ip edema « Meany ee sib Oy 
Ais Ans 6) 4+ Sera ipa Vitosieueee +" sion Hei PRs riaet ey « fh ipa ¥ 
+ de 1) 4 e014 ome VE Oe pall oo god Hole VW Woke Wy fe eye eiet Wie Ard hit" 
Fy) toro WW Ay rarest ot PSEA AP VF ss acer rsa Net anit d fate if ie) a eylivA Wye 
‘ ery MO A v6 6 of vb Be iM yb rhe, UU eta ae ay meer nd Pe Stee H ofp st eb i pathy Pi HH Rahaty oe Fe ripen ad APT 
+ f 44 ee Cee et oe bs Sri pide Reteuet LA ie ey og OME We ey be Ch aatieun ‘serine otk oe rata ~ 
Oi te bo a ‘ Pah dope eb ah Aas iW theaih the “Abie? visdeahs a agente Pepe etait Ota. bie Mie Me 
'e ' " up ian 40 ee LOE pat” 4 ee a Poth | MobGidy Hy aroat hay AAT Peale l oe pas kt sonar 
Bat. da Te 2 of hey a rns vat where Leh ohidheist tl Jas tu Gali tit bebe at ats ap tinbl 
mea? ‘ “ 6 yee ied ' i i) “we ran ie wey Peres IG OM TI. ea eee cb ae da HOW behets Ait ids 
Wioe t Pee 5 58 ed eet . ath tbe Gity Hie r Peel bla Aupiiuaa hh be habe 2 al sere) ie ihe A eyiat bors 
FA ian | ety Bf MAAN aid thsi sip) | Halse dae pens awed rit Fak at ble ions on ie " Act ee Th 
5 i" ape a sa re vhidi phy Oo eit rh aah Ane Me Lev Drs Aah Nees bit NOGA 60 fo ? 
% ARE OMe ba i Ni 


eM Hs ofboth ed Wi 








me b ie | 

eri 

"4 Ly aba AYA Ci en! 2 aewaghos A va Ne saga sso ea hee nd 

, Wi etety rte Reto re crit ‘ ie iy bedi) 

‘ be a euileaee Ll) HELM det By ety Ay ida zi yun fo Bening if i809 AG Brat 

HN A eAENd ab hn) legs 

nt om PEW TMB ro (ante Hee us 
Ad lee ” 

My Da esa a ya , Sire ee teh 





Wd Meant Lee tL ot} Neale ewes ni eared 


ttt 
f a4 Poona “ays ee Piece ras a 
Tee Ati fet Ne are seas eater sane 












he 
Ft oH eM he 0 
Reel tows Ab r ely 
PATI DHT y oH aetehy otpaane bai Aaaiieueh an boa de iaetbyse ey tt a ie Livery 
Ld 

























ad ' DS Ae bade heh at WPA 
Pie i Athath) 8 He eter Hh ther Ia par ib wae peli ved pasha vd ie 
UA dp y Aish Real oninain: Poke hits a) wernt ys ied i shajpeied 
pag ARpy Wid gm Ai) Wa hte deusyanwanda Mol cater GF FFE ed gs 
er We aE AN Pit Grked leg tet ad 
SHB BR 2) ABO EAC PE pele > hay Hie 





ey ; 
r nt at) ip 2) mht 
aA Al i ee Wh soi3 

ies DMUA geetrc 
we hig rar Meath 





erry rks erin 
oy ‘s 





ny Wa spray bei) a") We tanta 4 AS 
, ts tponeshngutpel FON ote (py 


Y i . 
roe ie eat Wy panied ied outa 





i 





” +e ee rte ree 


; i mals 
WH aH ui zi greg 


4 jorsiurehtean 
AoW Vibeot api shy 






ee dc 
bt eat at ets es a Neve adh Bie alt ith byte raehit anions signet ss 


































Me olds ent 1h RB hed oid Doty ne Uy oN Ane 7 8 et etiewe: ay Ad ty 
4 DAG tetng af b ALAWAR sah arhinr dean Pa yotetiny ieynveaarss ar bh arn ica ini He PH tLe ¥el 

ut >) we hk i" rs Hike rp ayer Bb aigeil s Fuel eile hea DCR eee Rete a eed nit wits beteraagh Weed 

aided ie 4 i PT Tom if pp WR Set ee +e 3 


meet) 1p si ny gigs ey na 
SAA bo ee  bipba Seh pit ta] neti Als . 
Rag Bie Gabe Ak slab) BU, ool rt teh ldl , 
{ Le aku eal nH Oe re os) VE fey heady Manet + uh) Lp rats Be 

76 by Ai tert) ey Memes sf noun ia" wit VWs eu ah shea a) atl heap peered fe WEE ibe Goh fh fh gh Sebsuntinay veg Ste Wi watt weruaigtivess + 

MER MIWA Shy) Are Mh thd fs an U4 et Men eiot, fae all «'y « C18 ob Ay OF Oe ged ey ee Pap ly ie ata i 
PUPP tm HL | Lert nti ay ‘Wie Me tou vipat Te bat sH rer en pitti pth fad yaa sage | ry] Er 

SPEAR ane at bs all PRG fhe irr hs al ‘ 


red 





eae Sees eenntnr b 











mys it ‘teh ot i 
PG OB oh ay OO tL: Ont spect 8 satis tWioges & eHsit ps 
me, : Nee iibehcah aires id bes oe eset a 
fhe f be 


fi: M cPmey 6 af Arete FSU ttf 
th Ad pat A 








ES 









































Dn 





dp 
he iran tu haynes ee ‘aos 
a ol Helin bow Hy ify bogs Mam 31it fi hol 8 sty la es ae mie Hie Ri Ne 
aay Loita) 408 betbony & TATA Mea REE A) 4 trhenesivenepen rey ip 
HPP rie Pan i fad beigir al) PP ipa EY Wy) chien ar oth pry bite Weeds whe hy r 
A ee ee Fe Re Ly Pe fie i 243 WH Meg betey: ie bb ifhn oe resbehd 
¥ ; tien! Nd iy mt a ies ee, 4 Anak Hs 
by i the NSP bre its a Raby’ f “ 
ite A I tain: fhe vba ident bet } Phi abin) th he ny 
ere) DIM deel as ae Hb wh be 


Vg yo ially pte is 
5 bs Aan gepitel: Ca rs set 
SG MAT SMa a Hhn Nfl aly ee 5 abet Ape hen hips ap ga 


WNP ng theta perce fn did ratte pal Late ale bal te sie 
if ry ¥ en if 4 brn eajeat 
ed bth weg <t ah OR aa bbe Eto b vil Lag ad AN | a 
Mele obhink MwA silh: sesh We Jo hd See be , 


PR Na AES he sila Oi ii 
4, te Leg yh MeN UL hal anh HIE het acho eka am ant chact h Wn ba 
aa hin dal habeus Asahi § HA Mea Oy 4 


eeei eth OLY ho 
srt ay Api halite Aasigeaneani Pie ate ie aie 

DFS Sanath eal bray Hatin 1 Att koh Git fa ate as 

Be sSirkos ol iy ' ' oy Obi de 0 pidge erate 


allerh= Wendt 
ak, Mal bo aH Wd Hn ehhaia? cpl i uty ste oot 
Maw. i ih inane ‘” 


it) oN atow ore bvphaedie a aay i" Cs 0 fl 
edu mein Hird sl ol rite ey SWRA as u A iF} nh be i f 
5 Pe NMA AT Alet ant atid ivi Sotiess!, rif email nyins “enh 
Sed eG 94) 959 y Fe Ns aT) HI RAH ASH Ad rag oy Hf MB Abeta =) 
it PMG = eet at Mit, a * Filashibatit tuna nt bury pina as hy wa 
Ag Y rath el oe 9B) ay a ait} {ke Hoisenalen i tiathae iit let 


TAS ALIVE TH TEO! 8D) Ore atom be Sli etait wh sae aeth 
Hats 1h Theft raed cd 995 Sf aa what Ve yin 3, 













St yehyd oth 
Nv bey 





Fe Aiea AN A (p 


1 haa ARMS uli Bet ih Maat 4 tf re 























hate 









A fa 
to Siro 
Pidiha bas giant tn 

i ib 

































“haeTn 
, Hidde 9 eth gafrethy ay rect eae ; spate 
thier ue) MW 9 han ba Wot fate Bk -aesn le ph Se Hh 
Nein) AV Feo AA 4) I tro oh aA (atta 436 if td pie Ry Be iis 
, rn Nop ehesy see Sie Swe enti 4 irmrenst i EH eth da 

FD hide me ao 4 rete A Bae bh evs. ty i sp) att catty a waves 
ye * t kehiis; Fae Mish omebea: 
ran Boas: LEP ede 404}, ‘ ent Pe ebeeaiied oth Th ery isis ‘e ae aye 
1 MEI MEAP afer ero * 


ts itn on InN pen nang a 


oa) 
emu ia wea ee ase iad bist meron wii 
tee (fitieltey hi Tee 


hs (erat 
With Binal duty lie a 
pl BAe, 
Ta Gord pts ay 





VoD ihe acon edad ed MASP) > 
ipa ately 




















Sl A 
Are “baie Ape ike iy LALA 
gh eh Hoes Hate fis Ae ‘a4 ge wl ara Sat ae bY ii i ina 
ay bved Genet? 4 









Nib 
Mi qa eten edone ptaheer au vm aiid 


if pie jive, davai beret 
Apache sete, Ate tadaieanen eae 
hadetiiadea vat fyi ivan heute 
Kai Mi ess nr pet indeans (hss ; res 

ei hele pi r Lo 
td GPE iyet OM led iy bie wae AGAR ete eal 


8 Dido TRL ed tse 
eit el dp aye Dire Ws Pay 
ps Pyne 












VaR ETE) Rl Alp 


4} sit 








ag neg 
Bes " 
‘Wi (Ay oy 
i ths 
Ay of 
es wy, ty aKt VA 
i" rial fe rei We Gath eae) 









arian neat ty wal ie 


























































































Bie 
AP Me tyedl of al Aasata whe +t heap ag ie 
LP bay Wie-uhh take reas dS Saif hat bade ihe it ie sii is ican eae bi ie 
4 a4 ri is bias As i a vive Le oapeab yay Ap eaten it eit bedtndirg oft i act iets INtrsdets ieee 
r hesf ered thy byl p hy py enti ba 44 ithe MAS hoy Are aly ye Sane bate mat ie dear LaF 
Hy ri SEA iitaes : Be Som oA VF eh OF gah gto it We aaans AS) ij at 
Fen imi thats cite joheeb Mab eh Gott fabnig a ‘ red fictive 
iy lalasweack Spe Whe fai pints nd ty it aul shy 
PMR cslleath Lod paves OP pean a Ye es ‘sate of Peay re yey ah 
1) erie ps o tit “, ne % Nita Headed tomy Nak parent cn ive its ee 
ns { ah rd | os RPh ai Dh) ot ad eet J ” i ¥ is CH 
aay iy iM ‘fs ‘ y i if bye dk h i eae ppg Biv “phelps Ly Tanager aaa! ie uaiiee 
f Le yan leayy | Z 4 i eer erent de eo de iM ee Hef 
Wen ages ta ah +) Ht a 2) ‘ iNabs 





1A ohe da 

On aA 

Ieaeat 
ve 





Sobey Saws elt pe 
‘y Piece Ds UEP AL 1 
M49 bs Eovtbortt off Sap voted UB) sy OORT H ofl a 
4 Dewrant LU Salt ehyee seal 
qe ts sy AP a A bre ib aa 

} ret 7) rapt 
TAO) a Ps a initest 
AL iDitsy vp iba ald fh 
sare (any 4) pre iyi 


be) ao 
uaae i f 4) ate Fadi Ds ais 


Beira 
‘ Sth ates 
BA) amet ar 
Ps ye fs else kes bene nel chin 
“in te % 

4 iat aie ; bh hs et tbe 
US peda ese tetted oft 

sa beim wth A“) 

a ee 
fisdeH 


ifs 
NA in a sf Hat teaeannfens 
Pa ; minh He Esipe testa) dad opbipegeett sl] Aha ae ii the papi i 
he pete ee ae ratian 
e4 na ipope Me da) reste ey chase ti Ian aieran tana 
that! ie Jessi Tart YA 
41) mmoles 


4 
silane aa AW a i) st 
Lia) Healy {if P Hiss 


: iy 
Rue Ship eed iets 
i Nee Pf 
Sites 















ad ihe Mi Aths 
VFA uma biee Lath 
i ae sf) Hh .4 gp) 
1° 'fes ae | ui i 
heady: ae tes) nie 
fe aay 



















aye 
bai} Pie 1) aida ton yee 
" cera AIRE Git 
tel ian aan? “ih 
N " ny 














by AO ta pars 
it i) i ii 
rhe 











I, 























if po Ce eOienn. Cree 
Bee TS, iat fia trees 
; Wear } wae eet Hayne tdete ial 
er Fd bys mete sata Shorty i nadie Heigath ay igri! 


We reine Hey 
vay iat } hy bsaae: 
44 Wet , 


das 
seijatlt ds ths ta tacge thet 
Lipidaioe te EA 










fe 

































ihe ire 
Wed O58 | ie in ba 4 ALS dealt ttelf od otge 
Ne ih Daring fit tee me (r. at Wisely dita J pib id : a hans A an Metin a 
hth e at 4 if AE Op cept Bea Hel bapwhde ts Wine 
hat Pi ape 9 * nd t si hs Mh? Bap oy dais er rie aida Bges P ty) pede aie Hiteelh ae a ie 
mite } whe i H 7 ir ; 





: r a 
MAD AW ALNLIRAALAC HE end ie Pi be el Una tits feo Bods eaet 2 Hic aie 
ihe ity Nant Aa tie pee Neue Pins tie aia Hite es ne on 3 
aby ref (pte pees aie ahah + mnt este tly Toth attat ae 
i dikee abasari Aa itr as evs eth ih So ia fe Pelee BEY 
+ hy 8h isis (ente is salads a) 4 rey ehiahy bY iain bine! th 
iP) Cetin) Ad teatolhy ists) dav dhhan ead vehiaae Lia iat art 
H Fear NRid Noli sal Apes Wiebe fos if, “ahs shale! 6 Ps teed sical i staan ata 
he ‘ ts, iG SiMe Mbt teat OS E90 slim ia Si Na Bd ot at WOM SUF 204 94 Sa aay a8 Sheds 6 pe van 
Cfatetl eb a age miele fs ely SHA ey sn i) aN ey isattes belts pl 43H 9) Tuatbee We) aegiaaaes ting i ble 
ie 








? 
bee wists ae Avie yf 
kt wd ade 
yp te iat eee yt , CWT 
A RE ie sai HS) SL Mita? shauna 
itn ‘ 7 
* 














he a ihoty 
ey Me Pent fe 1A a y 
foe tee ce {eit Saat i vag 


ony 
Fela ty Nei hint ony) its Da At, ela 

iY He Aas ores AY ; ay yeiurse Cra ey ne 

Nea iy ee ws ay ia aay 1 
f vat ay 
ae ep 


Hh j 

fa aa si Pie hy AVS Ath oh ii { 
py AD Si) Petree ge best (8 fam ey Ee 
: ibetbat) (eit oP oily je eee 

J raiot Ly HV I#y be ling 
we Por ern eens 
fay man ie 4 foal, 





















} 













if 
i Jays WotR ads Daa bath Eee bait 
Parad Bee ye lis pase he site) Pata Hafhast 


lesbo a nie Dee Wy " 

fa a AWA) HL ate rede agai sary: Geilo ise atcha ont aieitaish 

Hee gala trae alist {etic Wary Pa el Linnie mie Hany We FAA Tots 

aipad) anak aif ba degen PH dele lsipeag Wile Nae +i 

Te Sleaydovut re a i Vaeiiaiieledty 4 
( 


ah eli 1g yA 
Mi Hekonee heder i 
: ine isi oe ‘i : 
bheg Wretad sGjotbaibe deca ash i at erie Deo! ’ sind sin. y } 
" Pu isi mR Ba MAE 44 bae pir iene 8) tne i it 
LAY pet fae bah 4 Wea 4 it nyeit~ 
Wis iris mails! Hetligeay a iettide dina aa ula tobe UB es ri east 
0 


rites pat ean an 
a ee ce 
ian 
ott Tet abh stent tin aete a sp lgeregagbl My rg ed trict ted a eri 
wi Rw WAV “ diy] ee vst ali a abe Aa * ie ea ay i ace 
red Haat 4 ity anes fr8 

















































i it : 
DE bei ee 
eH Palvietyatsts lain 
nee ih A Vtg Dri BF y 
\ heterg a) 



















‘bal Godeasiett a 
helkae Tea Mel ages yay edeeels Tbe 


Hititeitaisod) ff a edits 
SPE hs Gorge inateen 







Waa rhs beiheld snp 4) f<3 newer 4h sees neat Hah ease nh 
OHMS Strata it ely Wy ana Matar 
eioae o 





























be patil 
AU fe the %e 

PATE sb ENT NS + tal bait Bait eto ay aed ig ves ar lees Pan He y M Hea tal bdnda p enln + Mth is iene ¥ 

Dn ee Ruth) LEEPER MUR GL RAGED ket LONE ry ated ny eo aga’ yet ‘be ane 

it] 1 ty auinie; wh von eo void Worn ngns. to aris 
































‘ity HMDA Bae 1 5 thf all bie Ged 


Niet seeder pe ctiet at 









THES Al afi chet of Ly heart 
t, obra 5 HEA. it AN PuhURtLL kul aise Testhdi 
bebe vce MMU OCR Ek pt iin prt 






























p air Pmt hye) : 
SEUNG Sr ritell: po age Lid~d ms © ey 4 ett sista Medteenests Hey) ant aA etrial lena tpn Br mysl ptabag in alee bia shut 
+ NUP RD ieee Gab) Oey 2) thy! ee a Haft VEE LAE ts A Ae 9 Crees Seige Hone ticet HP a> Fell eatin 
Hig sd Mika Tinh Aaitvsbeeapshraeh cs isa ty ‘Pete af At }Rasl@tesitemany Seidel ath aabe halk: eae! i pateg bb Wei si dtew. “hated fh af aie nA) tit 
Ves eR Tait sei fhe ods af re SNM oi Satie! fn eae i neice iia i tat mt Let pein sare ay Leg {8 by 
MF Lae BA alt arr ae #434 Pi paeuy. stip) Hb abi leet sh gate fay Mal 
1g EF Pintiblaht Wi pei Sih coca ak ue ee MAH othr ite peeiae Mt bei {> 
S Pee Sesraterny Habs AN rubs vy wath si aeiih Herohratass teste An a by * 





Pie 
elt saeghe Dettodd iy make hisbiteihd AC RUALEL ES bh Tint Haare loy sai 
abel f t Sane ct thet iinewnvegaie Hi is ih a eit ase 
# Dee Alo fol one Hee bu Veli eg viettoti tS eRh pk 
“) ily 4 Phebe date) ott ah Ly i sy statiatl Wit oll thn Aa eas peste {he F 
w at Ran tel LIM cial ancl cil Postahe: Nave Paha ua ‘inn i ea stl bet ra rf 
) Ai} et, Hireteonett 1 Ds hy halal TIM of sf + gibeltnt tr Niayy 

by i a9) om ve t a ryt We voted ty hy tian pyanse nt MARY) ie tye } hy 


mat 
sit» fi rie poe 4 ive ti Ub 
part uee Os yh ose Ah if sete ha Bas deathatei ryt is : 















a He ai ra i cae 







































* b) R te ty me Aa 
i if of daljetalt® ty rks bday Kiam 4 inte ent ft uN Hh wit ii tt tall 
‘ joey oT i nny met aN tals realest ay hapeatod tits VAY soy AME eke (ied i aNahe i “isha saat ined atfie | 
14 TAR tial) ajar LeUP MILLA BA ol ete us TA Ione Gort Hi MN eae E| Bait i LNs Pease dosn peaeae iat 
AUR ber ba tieed lla “ e 



















HY aME Be 14 owl! sdvbel) 4 
We Mare ia o raids (= ate 
a Pay HOU nae 








AA} thang, HARA ROR enses bn LSD ey on oiled pt o] iretesptbrh if ry ‘eal ais 
HObaseD oie teded ARR Re or 
praia (a dtee varhiagta Sih eats achat caer 


ee 
bore 14g ty Wy Ubdetae oops 194 rereatit vei 



















WES ha aid y gel vat 4 Pd ade ee hen, weil 
TONS J) Ah) hgh lide tit nik bibs Se hh iy ati Sstieal pub qin este manent 
ey raves CULM RUE EL hurd bale tobi iit a FOR The Mind os His toe 


vs Ahi 





meta Uavetgt WA 
Payal Bs woah altg ihe Wo itetaditeiar eA iePiaet 9 
ipartebengtinaeatat aS a ONS teeae vei : iit i 
We: 


ae pay 
etads: it att y he A ite 
se Reals fiche $44 vabelied) feibshata nay Oe tetsu pe iseeg nh, ai item y ise) pan i cata eacia 
Shab tt TEM Mb eltiah iin ee ete Nasalesbone win as aa Ft Ha the Bat 4 
obi + 44) aise hn Jy i aacre ess Br PONE yma Rote Buk 
eet ibe Niemann ste tos He AePats Wie 
iiteldad fama ft 


h Brit nega 
PS) ed Or eho hed ihe 
+ Ay (PS bth beh ed ee dedtiige yy 
FR PSS eg Drs 
im aaee . 


























att Se asi dafhath To Heth al Vbel es ibe 


ade Jon Tra AiMelsikaiee path) pad SOMO AS DS sds hs Ma } Hes 
pt thins sects Aisonrbatis wig us be Roied vy corto) nie Tait ehlaetiat sede tees 


































dg ii etal ae abit Tf Presa) pede. Tht bs 
i Fy MVR eds Bis That (28 PEE tbat ds ., ae) ¢: aha als denre er aha deb 
Apa AY’ ity Cr to ak ; poe ay) We) ot i we R Peihijnel) . a r t 
hai deat aduieitaly 8 Bilton aoa i RSM CR ND Ment tM iat tele AT iaiuh ves arity stale? 
. Me neon ed edupeli Lat] eg Ned sion sei a 


aD OLa Lhe ibe bet 
tt AbaIPLATAAD oh = 











darian dart vise itsaen eh asieeeh tea delk cbetps Es obe date ty 
sf a UPd ae Saeed eacaata’e yaa baka oe sin aes etait ashe ita 
Sdecaereasas Retna ee 


PE be beh) mah Os Bods Beh Mate Grail 


att hy ihe Bite is WAL i tpl 


tat) Nay? nyt weedy sh teAahy anne (ie 


















































Greif shales 
io cs eae Dey : eho A Ble) si talon Died et | Eeihgihs lata fehs 
Pebrbdel ide So Aes bat Hai etat Paty beast FN (Oe me A para mh 1S iece ahne Ee rant \s) 

} f ‘ Y ifs dita (fhe Hs i ase hy 4 bats andiene 

edt tpe oc) pal). seo? roi, hy testy etait ail Sinha pe nfaien hetaebs 
$0 fh 854449 atte gyl eyed! Hl 9 antaehehgs ee ty Hr vin “nee pecs 
nav dur ght! Mita era Ralnandash Ye eta aaeth tA} ‘ Biete nba 
} eth N He sles yi att, 4 etre Hei hs para He) Sie etb ste bbs het fy) The tae Rashea rl 
ve Hs ite hy Nip ited { Wed nts (4 Fahy ¢ vette ne “2 GH heed olen ates 
Vi ieaithes ys) Whi bouisate ine hy : iBibe 










Fry ite Un 
(4 tha \~ J Mh ede iN hy Halt ith 
4 4 


(Peat sghedts gets iy etaueanetone 









ho Seiodys fas} y j afb talye a baru staray bf 
pishsdetn i fide wit Hraht vats Videnaay teas? aed dehiameatinies ich 
Vy trite thet: LU Uv fies. recy ait bees 
( in “ia nile “ey Blatter A \ ! Nyit et. Hystadind 2h fh betas yiciaitb 
ata 


Pe Uap) bs aR a)! bated abe nd) sits sited ot thal C tatatat pris leach 
Puslian eas Pa ee ; 


' er 
Wo Mr thingy) sad ea na tab Cred py tp ihe ihy Gy Hae ihe Pepsin Vibe we NH 













































age 
4a ariiny eV elias ike (My he be kimuaiier it kite det aqatiwh Ay 4iheh as) Bit 
U4 Edita ly ‘noth Nes ’ east Newbie html Fshtheh gveocdgeersel, vagaries ee 
(radattsdabbolls jalbaa! nollie 8 Ay eta M Voted. & sik 4 neaiey 
3 yim cua gaps ; , +: eaten vives yea oyens HS piety ah ar Nae rt o 
Ween ere ipsa fetrenait canaaeealanehea ye by watts habits b fess HY Sy ebah sth rp ytae 
iba 'T he ethyl hie vn ie iat Pe Aali e py aD tsients Saas weit ‘ valtaeatane a 
¥ Riise afb tity iad hs eis Td > 
abn ite ts “o Dh ainwtet ‘ pene is batt acne the ies Hay rare 13 eit te 





Nt 
SHEE edt ak aka Vittgda det ded gueaesiensnaien Ay ay 
Heike hepa = i wil odd abe sled aay adie? ia re nae Wak 
Arter ec dito ain i jets hayes ne i “i nw Hy 


AAU 























’ OO rhea MA ofa Oa ths salt 
+) +4f Wet abd he dy bt aes » thedbeh BoAt de teup + midis Pehall Veiteg fry Nawriredadeiat st 
oe , he siidahanat eaain he {ei panes Fes Kbit) ieee toned ache bee G pe ie 
* } ja . Pry at +4 + tote ‘We s vary oh +e) 
4 fre + slid aly earns W344 miei Hothody prec | sistent eye Te Pat ie tote gO tf AR 
f , ’ ‘4 TQ aenais re) ay 
bak ‘ 





a Twa Heo Wiha Siam a vital the LY 





Weare dado Pty Res Bete Lua Myst haha iter Ny rf 
; = Sai he ita ded Aanvones MA wine ert tbhcnt ices Literate Tena aiceenth cin 
' wr PR beeps ihe yet ath Neves fyteasahate tn fn tpa ti (ed ier wip ra e dabei. et RAMA Ertl et ths iba 
, ) Te af ot. witaiea: he Ose \PMA Bib hath seett tts ite ait EM Ms pep | ite hie nsbabyssieanteineetoata 
Pal ] } Tv ry a hth He bathe BVM e bool td Wp ait PING al a Th debe ih ote dnd 
7 ' 4 . her BT, 
4 





hy ite a Pet 


Cb ies 











Return this book on or before the 
Latest Date stamped below. A 
charge is made on all overdue 
‘books. 


U. of I. Library 


17625-S 











Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2021 with funding from 
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 


https://archive.org/details/shipsofsevenseasOO0dani_0 


writ 
ik ad hd 2 
i te ae a 


a 
, ‘ ae \ 
a eal 

fo 4 > Le ty 
Vey ie 


7 


ie SLL EBS aie 
OF THE SEVEN 
SEAS 








THE LIBRARY 
OF THE 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 





With 


lj 
~N 
hi mi 
/ / i \ 


HH} 
/ 





Ti "il co. 7 — 






Dn” 







The Santa Maria, the Nina and 
the Pinta 


‘ fj 
wae . The most famous ships that ever suiled the seas = 






wth (erg = 

The Nina, shown in the foreground, was the smallest of the three, but in her 

Columbus returned to Spain after the Santa Maria was wrecked, and the 
captain of the Pinta seemed tempted to prove unfaithful. 


Bit iP'S 


OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


BY 
HAWTHORNE DANIEL 


AUTHOR OF 
‘IN THE FAVOUR OF THE KING”’ 


WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 


FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT 





DRAWINGS BY 
FRANCIS J. RIGNEY 


GARDEN CITY NEW YORK 
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY 
1925 


COPYRIGHT, 1925, BY 
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY 


ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES 


AT 
THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N. Y. 


First Edition 








\. omer 4 eee 


Jan 83044 “£4. 


TO 
NELLE R. DANIEL 
MY WIFE 


WITHOUT WHOSE ENCOURAGEMENT AND 
ASSISTANCE THIS BOOK WOULD PROBABLY 
HAVE BEEN BEGUN, BUT MOST CERTAINLY 
WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN COMPLETED 









Bs lithe , cA Meligh 
a ei hak in ¥ 4 it 
nD ay M ; Mi ) 






hl 
L . 


FOREWORD 


In gathering material for a book of this kind one’s sources 
of information are likely to be so numerous and so diverse 
_as to defy classification. Some of the information I have 
gotten first hand on ships in which I have served or voyaged. 
Much more of it has been picked up from countless scattered 
sources during twenty years or more in which ships have 
been my hobby. More still, however, has been consciously 
taken from books on ships and shipping that I have gathered 
together or referred to during the time I spent actually in 
preparing the manuscript. 

Those books to which I have most often referred, and to 
the authors and publishers of which I am particularly in- 
debted, are as follows: 


‘‘Ancient and Modern Ships,” by Sir G. C. V. Holmes 
“The Clipper Ship Era,” by Arthur H. Clark 
“Dictionary of Sea Terms,” by A. Ansted 

‘Elements of Navigation,’ by W. J. Henderson, A. M. 
‘The Frigate Constitution,” by Ira N. Hollis 

“Lightships and Lighthouses,”’ by F. A. Talbot 

“The Lookout Man,” by David W. Bone 

“Mercantile Marine,” by E. Keble Chatterton 

‘*Modern Seamanship,” by Austin M. Knight 

“Sailing Ships and Their Story,”’ by E. Keble Chatterton 


In addition to these I have received much assistance from 
the New York Public Library, the American Museum of 
Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the 


vil 


Vill FOREWORD 


U. S. Congressional Library, the Marine Museum at the 
United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, and a number 
of friends, who, knowing of my interest in ships, have brought 
me some of the most interesting of the facts that I have used. 


is Pa 


CHAPTER 


I. 

Il. 
Il. 

i Be 
WE 
VI. 
VII. 
VIII. 
IX. 
X. 
XI. 
XII. 
XIII. 
XIV. 


CONTENTS 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHIPS 

THE DEVELOPMENT OF SAILS . 

THE PERFECTION OF SAILS—THE CLIPPER SHIPS 
THE DEVELOPMENT OF STEAMSHIPS . 

THe PERFECTION OF STEAMSHIPS 
STEAMSHIPS OF Many TYPES . 

SHies oF War 

Ports AND Port EQUIPMENT . 

THE ART OF SEAMANSHIP . 

THE ScrENCE oF NAVIGATION 
LicutHousss, Licutsuies, AND Buoys . 
Suie Design, CONSTRUCTION, AND REPAIR . 
SHIPPING LINES . 


THe IMPORTANCE OF SHIPS 


APPENDIX. An Abridged Dictionary of Nautical Words 


and Expressions. . 


ix 


PAGE 


hi 4 


i 


« 





LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


The Caravels of Columbus... . . Frontispiece 
FACING PAGE 


An Egyptian Boat of 6000 B.C... 

A Large Egyptian Ship of the 18th Dynasty 
A Peruvian Balsa . 

An African Dugout 

An Eskimo Umiak 

An Eskimo Kayak 

A Birch-bark Canoe 

An Outrigger Canoe 

A Pheenician Bireme . 

A Greek Trireme 


Seating Arrangement of Reser ina irear Trireme 


An early 16th-Century Ship . 

A Mediterranean Galley . 

An Egyptian Boat of the 5th Danesy. | 
An Egyptian Ship of the 12th Gee. 
A Roman Ship . 

A Viking Ship... 

A 13th-Century omaha erin 

A Galleon of the Time of Elizabeth 
The Amaranthe . . 

A 16th-Century Dutch Boat 
A Corvette of 1780 

A British East Indiaman . 
A Black Ball Packet 

A Whaling Bark 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


The Red Jacket 

The Great Republic. 

The Ariel, 1866 

A Gloucester Fisherman . 

An American Coasting Schooner 
The Charlotte Dundas 

Robert Fulton’s Clermont 

The Savannah .. 

The Great Britain . 

The Great Eastern 

The Steamship Oceanic 

The Deutschland 

The Majestic 

The Leviathan . 

The Berengaria 

The Mauretania 

The Belgenland 

The George mts 

The Homeric 

A Mail Liner 

An American Thtereunis Tener 
A Cargo Liner 

A Tramp Steamer . 

An Oil Tanker 

A Turret Steamer 

A Whaleback 

A Great Lakes Freight Carries 


An English Warship of the Time of Henry! V 3 


A British Line-of-Battle Ship, 1790 . 

The American Frigate Constitution . . 
A Steam Te U.S. S. maakt 
The Monitor ; 
The Merrimac . 

A Torpedo Boat. . 
H. M. 8. Dreadnaught 


FACING PAGE 


63 


153 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


A Submarine ire 

A Modern Destroyer . 

A Modern Super-dreadnaught 

A Battle Cruiser 

A Scout Cruiser 
An Airplane View of the U. Ss S. Manne ' 
A Map of the Port of New York 

A Map of the Port of Liverpool. . 

A Map of the Port of Rio de Janeiro 

A Map of the Port of Cape Town 

A Map of the Port of Marseilles 

A Tug Boat. ... 

A New York Harbour Herre 

A New York Harbour Lighter 

A Mississippi River Stern-wheeler 

A Modern Venetian Cargo Boat 

A Page of Knots in Common Use 

Bearings and Points of Sailing. 

How a Fore-and-Aft Sail Is Reefed . 

A Freighter Tied Up to a Pier 


FACING PAGE 


155 
157 
159 
161 
163 
165 
169 
171 
173 
175 
177 
179 
131 
183 
185 
187 
193 
195 
197 
199 


A Few Types of Sailing Ships Wonimousin in Paronenn 


and American Waters 


A Few Types of Sailing Boats to Be F siti round the 


World. 
The Rigging ihe a THeeenasted Shir 
The Sails of a Four-masted Ship 
Using a Cross Staff AS (A 
Using an Astrolabe... 
A Sextant in Use, and a Ship S Log 
Using a Pelorus | 
Sounding by Machine 
The Pharos at Alexandria... 
The Tillamook Rock Light Station 
Cape Race Lighthouse 
Minot’s Ledge Light . 


xiil 


201 


203 
209 
213 
217 
221 
220 
229 
233 
237 
239 
241 
243 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


Bishop Rock Lighthouse . 
Fire Island Lightship 
Automatic Buoys . 

A Ship on the Ways 

A Floating Dry Dock . 
The Olympic 

The Aquitania 

The Paris 

The Spray . 

The Detroit . 


A Reconstruction of One of Caligula’s Galleys) 


A European Side-wheeler 
A Hudson River Steamer 
A Steam Yacht. 

An Experiment of 1924 


FACING PAGE 


245 
247 
249 
293 
290 
299 
263 
265 
281 
283 
284 
285 
287 
289 
291 


INTRODUCTION 


I remember well being thrilled as a boy by the tales of 
various members of my family who had been engaged in the 
old “China Trade”’ and in the operation of clipper ships and 
in whaling. ‘These stories related to a bygone age—a 
day when the American flag was seen in every part of the 
globe. 

Even in my own boyhood America had no merchant 
marine except for the coasting trade and the freighters upon 
the Great Lakes. American seamen had ceased to exist and 
the calling of an officer in the Merchant Marine was no 
Jonger one that offered an attractive career to the Ameri- 
can boy. It is unnecessary here to go into the reasons for 
the decline and fall of our nation upon the sea. The Civil 
War, the introduction of steam propulsion, the development 
of the West, and in addition a great number of economic 
changes, were some of the causes of the disappearance of the 
American flag from the Seven Seas. 

It was not until the outbreak of the World War that 
American business men as a whole began to think seriously 
of the possibility of reviving American shipping; it was not 
until 1916 that the Congress took definite action to aid with 
constructive legislation; it was not until our own country 
entered into the war that large results appeared. In the 
past few years there has been an extraordinary revival of 
interest in everything that pertains to the sea—the novels 
of Melville written three quarters of a century ago have 
been revived in dozens of editions and the sea stories of 

XV 


xvl | DN EO DU COGN 


Conrad are among the best sellers. In the same way, old 
books, old engravings, and crude old lithographs and wood- 
cuts relating to almost every form of ships and shipping 
have been sought out and prized by an ever-growing circle 
of enthusiasts. This is not a passing fancy; there is something 
more solid behind it. I hope I am right in believing that 
the people of the United States are again turning their faces 
to the sea. Over the sea our ancestors or we ourselves have 
allcome. We have filled the vacant spaces from the original 
colonies on the Atlantic Coast to the new and splendid 
civilization of the Pacific. No longer can we say “America 
is sufficient for us; our thought and lives must stay at home.” 
We are part of the world now, very dependent on the rest of 
the peoples of the world for our own progress, and our own 
success, and even for our own safety. This is shown by the 
fact that every school and every college throughout the 
land is, in its teaching, paying more and more attention to 
the affairs of mankind beyond our own borders. The study 
of languages, the study of geography, the study of economics, 
of international laws—all receive increased attention. 

Mr. Hawthorne Daniel has rendered a conspicuous 
service in writing a book which can be understood and 
appreciated by the average citizen. Most of us are just 
“average citizens’? and whether we live a thousand miles 
from the nearest ocean or not, whether we have ever smelled 
salt water or not, it will be a good thing for us to have 
some knowledge of the great epic of ships and the men who 
have made them and sailed them. 


FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. 
Hype Park, N. Y., 


June 4, 1924. 


SHIPS 
OF THE SEVEN 
SEAS 









Soe 
wit Th YC " 


a 4: shy ae 
Pa | } ae " i 





t 


\ an 

















SHIPS 
OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


CHAPTER I 
THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHIPS 


| Pee the world without ships. Mighty empires 
that now exist and have existed in the past would never 
have developed. Every continent—every island—would be 
a world alone. Europe, Asia, and Africa could have known 
each other, it is true, in time. North and South America 
might ultimately have become acquainted by means of the 
narrow isthmus that joins them. But without ships, 
Australia and all the islands of all the seas would still re- 
main unknown to others, each supporting peoples whose 
limited opportunities for development would have prevented 
advanced civilization. Without ships the world at large 
would still be a backward, savage place, brightened here and 
there with tiny civilizations, perhaps, but limited in knowl- 
edge, limited in development and in opportunity. Without 
ships white men could never have found America. Without 
ships the British Empire could never have existed. Holland, 
Spain, Rome, Carthage, Greece, Phoenicia—none of them 
could ever have filled their places in world history without 
ships. Without ships the Bosphorus would still be impass- 
able and the threat of Xerxes to Western civilization would 
never have beenknown. Greater still—far greater—without 
ships the Christian religion would have been limited to 
1 


2 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


Palestine or would have worked its way slowly across the 
deserts and mountains to the South and East, to impress 
with its teachings the Arabs, the Assyrians, the Hindoos, 
and the Chinese. 

Ships have made the modern world—ships have given 
the white man world supremacy, and ships, again, have 
made the English-speaking peoples the colonizers and the 
merchants whose manufactures are known in every land, 
whose flags are respected all around the globe, and whose 
citizens are now the most fortunate of all the people of the 
earth. 

All of this we owe to ships. 


Far back before the beginnings of history lived the first 
sailor. Who he was we do not know. Where he first found 
himself water-borne we cannot even guess. Probably in a 
thousand different places at a thousand different times 
a thousand different savage men found that by sitting 
astride floating logs they could ride on the surface of the 
water. 

In time they learned to bind together logs or reeds and to 
make crude rafts on which they could carry themselves and 
some of their belongings. They learned to propel these 
rafts by thrusting poles to the bottoms of the lakes or rivers 
on which they floated. They learned, in time, how to make 
and how to use paddles, and as prehistoric ages gave way to 
later ages groping savages learned to construct rafts more 
easily propelled, on which platforms were built, to keep their 
belongings up above the wash of the waves that foamed about 
the logs. 

And ultimately some long-forgotten genius hollowed out 
a log with fire, perhaps, and crude stone tools, and made 
himself a heavy, unwieldy canoe, which, heavy as it was 
and awkward, could still be handled much more readily 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHIPS 3 


than could the rafts that had served his forbears for perhaps 
a hundred centuries. 

And with this early step forward in the art of ship-building 
came a little of the light that heralded the approaching dawn 
of civilization. 


The very first pages of recorded history tell us of ships, 
and we know that many prehistoric men were adept at 

















AN EGYPTIAN BOAT OF 6000 B. C. 


This drawing was made from what is probably the most ancient 
known record of a ship. he high bow and stern seem somewhat over- 
done, and it is likely that they were less elevated than this picture 
shows them. The carving from which this was taken, however, exag- 
gerates them still more. 


building such boats as dugout canoes. In Switzerland many 
signs have been found of a people who dwelt there in the 
Stone Age, and among the simple belongings of this people 
of great antiquity have been found canoes hollowed from 
single logs. In the bogs of Ireland, and in England and 
Scotland similar dugouts have been occasionally found, 
which had been buried in the course of time far below the 
surface of the ground. 


4 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


By the time the Stone Age came the dugout was perfected, 
and still later other types of boats appeared. Perhaps the 
hollowed log suggested the use of the curved bark of the 
tree as a canoe, and ultimately a framework of wood was 
developed to hold the weight of the occupant while a cov- 
ering of bark kept out the water. The framework was 
necessary for two reasons—first, to give the structure the 
necessary strength to keep its shape; and second, to bear 
the weight of the builder and his belongings. Other cover- 
ings, such as skins and woven fabrics covered with pitch, 
came into use in parts of the world where suitable bark was 
scarce. 

The next step in the building of boats was a method of 
fastening pieces of wood together in suitable form. This 
probably came from a desire for boats of larger size, which 
required greater strength, for man early became a trader and 
wished to transport goods. Bark could not support a heavy 
hull, and dugouts are necessarily limited in size, being 
constructed of the trunks of single trees, although dugouts 
fifty or sixty feet in length, or even longer, are not unknown. 
Probably the earliest boats of this new type were tied to- 
gether by thongs or cords. Even to-day the natives of 
Madras, in India, build boats by this method, and similar 
types are to be found on the Strait of Magellan, on Lake 
Victoria Nyanza in Central Africa, and in the East Indies. 
Many of these have been very highly developed until now 
they are built of heavy hand-hewn boards fitted together 
with ridges on their inner sides, through which holes are 
bored for the thongs that lash them together. The boards 
are fastened together first, and later a frame is attached to 
the interior. This construction makes a very “elastic” 
boat which bends and twists in a seaway, but which, because 
of this “elasticity,” is able to navigate waters that would 
prove fatal to the more rigid types of crudely constructed 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHIPS ) 

































a 
iG) Rp f\ AG . 
* IE Axel (Na b raraE \ 
va a ON TERN ARs Lhe ET hel \. wl qe a ES i wks 
SSeS SS ee ee 








A LARGE EGYPTIAN SHIP OF THE 18TH DYNASTY 


The overhanging bow and stern were common on most early Egyptian 
ships, and the heavy cable, stretched from one end of the hull to the other and 
supported on two crutches, was used to strengthen these overhanging ends. 


boats. The Hindoos often use them in the heavy surf that 
drives in upon the beaches from the Bay of Bengal. 

The introduction of this construction made boats of con- 
siderable size possible, and for the first time boats larger 
than anything that could possibly be called a canoe were 
successfully floated. 

From this form a further step was ultimately made in 
which the various parts were fastened together by the use of 
wooden pegs, and this was the most advanced type long 
centuries after the dawn of history. The Nile was navigated 
by such boats at the height of Egypt’s civilization, and 
Homer describes this type of boat as the one in which 
Ulysses wandered on his long and wearisome journey home. 

While the art of boat-building had been travelling this 
long, slow way, the art of propulsion had not been idle. 


6 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


Long since, the simple pole of the early savage had lost its 
usefulness, for men soon learned to navigate waters too deep 
for poles. ‘The paddle followed, and was perfected to a very 
high point, as its use in all parts of the world still testifies. 

But further means were still to come, and by the time 
Ulysses started on his journey from the fallen city of Troy, 
both the sail and the oar, which for three thousand years 
were to be supreme as propelling forces, had come into use. 

In Ulysses’s boat, therefore, we see for the first time a 
combination of structural features and propelling agents 
that compare, remotely though it may be, with ships as they 
are to-day. A built-up structure with a framework, pro- 
pelled by sails—it was an early counterpart of the ships of 
the present time. 

Naturally enougn this development did not take place 
simultaneously in all parts of the world. The most ad- 
vanced civilizations such as those of Phoenicia, Greece, and 
China developed the most advanced ship-building methods, 
just as they developed the most advanced arts and sciences 
and thought and religion. 

For instance, when Columbus discovered America a vital 
factor in the development of ships was entirely unknown to 
the natives that he found. No Indian tribe with which he 
or later explorers came in contact had learned the use of 
sails to propel the canoes they almost univerally used. 
Civilizations of surprising worth, with art and architecture 
in high stages of advancement, had existed and had practi- 
cally disappeared in Yucatan and Central{America, and other 
civilizations of genuine attainment were later found, by 
Cortes and Pizarro, in Mexico and Peru, yet none of them 
knew the uses of the sail. 

On the other hand, the Egyptians and the Phoenicians 
used the sail, and twenty-five centuries before the discovery 
of America the Phoenicians are thought to have sailed their 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHIPS f 


ships around the continent of Africa from the Red Sea to 
the Mediterranean. 

But while the art of ship-building progressed more rapidly 
after the development of the use of wooden pegs for fasten- 
ings, and the use of sails and oars made possible more ex- 
tended sea journeys, still the development was slow, and 
until the discovery of the power of steam in the latter part 
of the 18th Century no revolutionary changes in ships took 
place. 

Just when the method originated of first constructing the 
frame of the ship and of covering this frame with planks, we 
do not know, but the transition from the method in use at 
the time of Homer was simple and the aes was probably 
gradual. 

It seems possible that the built-up boat may have had its 





Se 2 





A PERUVIAN BALSA 
These ‘‘boats”’ are really rafts made of reeds. 


8 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


origin in the attempt of some savage to raise the sides of his 
dugout canoe by the addition of boards in order to keep the 
water from harming his goods. 

But all of the history of boats up to the time of written 
history is necessarily mostly surmise. 

It is interesting to note, however, that every one of these 
basic types is still to be found in use. In Australia, for 
instance, are to be found savages whose boats are nothing 
but floating logs, sharpened at the ends, astride of which 
the owner sits. Rafts, of course, are common everywhere. 
Dugout canoes are to be found in many lands, among which 
are the islands of the Pacific and the western coast of Canada 
and Alaska. The birch-bark canoe is still common among 
the Indians of America—particularly of Canada; the skin- 
covered boat is still used commonly by the Eskimos, two 
types, the kayak, or decked canoe, and the umiak, or open 
boat being the most common. I have seen the latter type 
used also by the Indians who live on Great Bear Lake in 
northern Canada. 

Boats fastened together with thongs or lashings are numer- 
ous in parts of India and elsewhere, the Madras surfboats 
being, perhaps, the best examples. 

Boats built up of planks fastened together by pegs are to 
be found in many parts of the world. I learned to sail in a 
boat of this type, but very much modernized, on Chesapeake 
Bay. ‘The other methods, very much perfected, are still in 
everyday use among boat- and ship-builders. 

Thus it will be seen that some knowledge of all these vari- 
ous types may still serve some useful purpose, for one may 
find in everyday use all the fundamental types of construc- 
tion that have ever existed. 

One type of boat I have not mentioned, yet it is of time- 
honoured ancestry and is still in daily use among thousands 
of people. This is the outrigger canoe. In different parts 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHIPS 9 


of the world it has different names. In the Philippines, for 
instance, it is called, in two of its forms, vinta and prau. 
These boats have one thing in common, and that is an out- 
rigger. An outrigger is a pole made of bamboo or some other 
light wood, floating in the water at a distance of a few feet 


f ius 


AG Z 





AN AFRICAN DUGOUT 


In this boat the builders have hollowed out the log but have not other- 
wise changed it. It is a present-day counterpart of boats known and 
used long before the dawn of history. 


from the boat itself. It is held rigid and parallel to the hull 
by two or more cross bars. Sometimes there is an outrigger 
on each side but often there is only one. On the smaller 
boats the outrigger consists of a single pole. On larger 
boats, or those which are inclined to be particularly topheavy 
because of the load they are intended to carry, the size of the 
sail, or for some other cause, several poles may make up each 
outrigger. ‘The use of this addition is to secure stability, for 


10 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


the boats to which they are attached are usually extremely 
narrow and alone could not remain upright in the water, 
or at best could not carry sail in a seaway, where the com- 
bination of wind and wave would quickly capsize them. 
These outrigger canoes—and some of them are capable of 
carrying forty or fifty passengers—are extremely seaworthy, 
and the native sailors do not hesitate to take them for hun- 
dreds of miles across seas often given to heavy storms. 
In the development of ships, however, they play no part, 
for their only unique characteristic has never been incor- 
porated into ships of higher design. 

It is interesting that while all the cruder types of boats are 
still to be found in daily use in various parts of the world, 
the more highly developed designs, up to those of the 17th 
Century, have disappeared. Many of them, it is true, 
have influenced later designs, but most of the marks they 
Jeft can be traced only with great difficulty. 

The earliest boats of which we have definite records are 
those that were in use in Egypt about 3000 B. C. Some of 
these were of considerable size, for carvings on tombs and 
temples show them carrying cargoes of cattle and other goods, 
and show, too, on one side, as many as twenty-one or twenty- 
two, and in one case twenty-six, oars, besides several used for 
steering. Many of these boats were fitted with a strange 
sort of double mast, made, apparently, of two poles fastened 
together at the top and spread apart at the bottom. These 
masts could be lowered and laid on high supports when they 
were not needed to carry sail. 

The boats themselves seem to have been straight-sided 
affairs with both ends highly raised, ending, sometimes, in a 
point and sometimes being carried up into highly decorated 
designs that at the bow occasionally curved backward and 
then forward like a swan’s neck. The end of this was often 
a carved head of some beast or bird or Egyptian god. On 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHIPS ~~ Ii 


Veet 
Aces ®: Z 

Si ae xt Sse ee % 

= PEA WL LAE . 

eo RH PAN WE ae 4 

= = SEN RRERRD 69, 

—_—<——_ ~—, ae ae Se we 
= Ya bar> 

- es eee K 

a et 


<ag 



































ERS Re 
SNS SS ESS? 
— ee &S : 
SS og bo RB EH 
ha sx - “5 ri Ce, Ae 0 eee 
a ae SOS ns 3 
i RS ; Wi wie 
NT RS INS 8 ONSET 
\\ \ \ ANN VNU) SUNT WIN COMP a4 
I aa wn, ae 
eS VA" LTE isaaar teen oI NE RB aie a GAT ASS aan a 
pene a ee ee A ae if 
= —— ewe YS ee a ie — 
eee >= i eS _— oes \ hos fe: 
~ =—- = = = = N oH S Loe 
~ M << — - hi lug eh t ee 
SSS S Te cath? SS 
= Se, a ee ne 
= ee ae SE OO en” | 
Some om rae ee * > 


AN ESKIMO UMIAK 


This boat is structurally similar to the kayak except that it has no deck. It 
is a larger boat, and will carry heavy loads and perhaps as many as a dozen 
people. It is made by covering a frame with skins. 


the boats intended for use as war galleys the bow was often 
armed with a heavy metal ram. 

These ships—for they had by this time grown to such size 
that they are more than canoes or boats—often extended 
far out over the water both forward and aft, and any con- 
centration of weight on these overhanging extremities had a 
tendency to strain the hull amidships. This was offset, as 
it sometimes is to-day on shallow draft river boats, by run- 
ning cables from bow to stern over crutches set amidships. 

While the Egyptians were the first to picture their ships, 
it is not certain that they were the first to have ships of real 
size and sea-going ability, for the very temples and tombs 
on the walls of which are shown the ships that I have de- 
scribed have also the records of naval victories over raiders 
from other lands who must have made the voyage to the 


l2 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


Egyptian coast in order to plunder the wealth of that old 
centre of civilization. 

The Egyptians, however, were never a sea-going people 
in the sense that the Phoenicians were. But strange as it 
may be, the Pheenicians, despite the fact that they probably 
invented the alphabet, did not make the first record, or, as a 
matter of fact, any very important records, of their great 
development in the ship-building art. The earliest picture 
of which we know of Phoenician ships is on the wall of an 
Assyrian palace and dates back only to about 700 B.C. 
which was after the Assyrians had conquered the Phoenicians 
and had for the first time (for the Assyrians were an inland 
people) come in contact with sea-going ships. 

By this time the Phoenicians had had many years of ex- 
perience on the sea, and the Assyrian representation shows a 
ship of more advanced design than the Egyptians had had. 

There are few records, however, from which we can gain 
much knowledge of Phoenician ships, although we know they 
ventured out of the Mediterranean and were familiar with 
the coasts of Spain, Portugual, France, and even England, 
where they went to secure tin. And as I mentioned earlier, 
they may even have circumnavigated Africa, and it seems 
likely that they invented the bireme and the trireme, thus 
solving the question of more power for propulsion. 

A bireme is a boat propelled by oars which has the rowers 
so arranged that the oars overlap and form two banks or 
rows, one above the other. A trireme is similar except that 
there are three banks. With this arrangement a boat may 
have twice or three times as many rowers (in these old 
boats there was never more than one man to an oar) without 
lengthening the hull. 

To the Greeks we owe the first detailed accounts of the 
art of ship-building and of ship construction. In early 
Greek history the vessels were small and were usually without 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHIPS 13 


decks, although some of them had decks that extended for 
part of their length. They carried crews that ranged up toa 
hundred or more, and, in the democratic fashion of the early 
Greeks, they all took part in the rowing of the ship, with 
the possible exception of the commander. At this early 
period great seaworthiness had not been developed, and 
there are many accounts of the loss of ships in storms and of 
the difficulty of navigating past headlands and along rocky 
coasts. Later, Greek ships cruised the Mediterranean 
almost at will, but ship design and construction had first 
to develop and the development took centuries. 

Even in those days there was a marked difference between 
the ships intended for commerce and those intended for war. 
The war vessels—and the pirate vessels, which of course were 
ships of war—were narrow and swift, while the ships of 
commerce were broad and slow: broad because of the mer- 
chant’s desire to carry large cargoes, and slow because the 
great beam and the heavy burdens prevented speed. 












ava 











AN ESKIMO KAYAK 
These small canoes are made of a light frame covered with skins. 


14 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


During the period at which Athens reached her prime the 
trireme, or three-banked ship, was the most popular. As a 
matter of fact, its popularity was so great that its name was 
often given to all ships of the same general type whether 
they were designed with two, three, four, five, or even more 
banks of oars. 

These many-oared ships reached a very high state of 
perfection during the supremacy of Greece, and the most 
careful calculations were made in order to utilize every 
available inch by packing the rowers as closely together as 
was possible without preventing them from properly per- 
forming their tasks. 

The rowers, as I have suggested, sat in tiers, those on each 
side usually being all in the same vertical plane, and the 
benches they used ran from the inner side of the hull to 
upright timbers which were erected between decks, slanting 
toward the stern. That is, ina ship with three banks of oars, 
three seats were attached to each of these slanting timbers 
and the footrests of the rower occupying the topmost seat were 
on either side of the man who occupied the second seat in 
the next group of three. The vertical distance between 
these seats was two feet. The horizontal distance was 
one foot. The distance between seats in the same bank 
was three feet. 

I have gone into some detail in describing this arrange- 
ment, for rowers—and from the later days of Greece on 
they were generally slave rowers—were the motive power 
of ships for three thousand years or more, and for more than 
a thousand years the many-banked ship was supreme. 

Imagine these toiling galley slaves, chained in hundreds 
to the crowded rowing benches, straining at the heavy oars. 
Tossed by the seas, they labour unceasingly, stroke on stroke, 
to the sound of a mallet falling in never-changing cadence on 
a block of wood. Hour on hour they strain, heartened 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHIPS 15 


occasionally by a few minutes’ rest. Their eyes are all but 
blinded by the sweat from their grimy brows. Their hands 
are calloused, their bodies misshapen from long toil on the 
rowers benches. Above them, on the wind-swept deck, 
they hear the clank of armed men, the slap of sandalled 


et 







on = a: : r. % 
RE S 
DY @a 


Sy 2M 
T ul — 
Y; i ALL Zh l iT ener Wie 


iS Bean 
| i cA Nb 
eh ¥ 
1 By AAA “ 
is te 
Niwa 
ae |\(t! 
‘ 






SAS 


ea eR . 7 


OF 


A BIRCH-BARK CANOE 
In many parts of the world savage people have learned to build light frames 
over which they have stretched the best material available to them. The In- 
dians of North America commonly utilize birch bark. 
feet. A lookout calls to the officer in command—hurried 
steps—momentary silence—shouts and the sound of feet. 
A messenger appears in the stifling space below. The sharp 
clap of the mallet on the block increases its cadence. Faster 
and faster swing the oars. Furious and more furious is the 
pace. A whip in the hands of a brutal guard falls here and 
there on the naked backs of the helpless, straining forms. 
Their strength is waning, their breath is coming fast. Aman 


16 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


collapses from the strain and pitches from his elevated seat, 
half suspended by the chain around his leg, his oar trailing 
and useless. From beyond their wooden walls they hear 
the muffled clank of the oars of the approaching enemy. 

Cries from on deck, and suddenly a crash. Broken oars 
are driven here and there. Screams and oaths and orders 
and a great upheaval. Water enters in a score of places. 
More screams—more oaths—cries for help to a score of 
pagan gods—the water covers all. A great last sigh and 
one more ship is gone: it is Just a tiny incident in the history 
of ships. 

As I have said, the Greeks developed marine architecture 
to a very high point, and the bireme and trireme with which 
they began were the first of a long series of developments 
until ultimately ships of five, of eight, of even sixteen banks 
of oars are said to have been in use, and there is a story, which 
probably was a figment of someone’s imagination, of a vessel 
of forty banks! Such a ship may possibly have been sug- 
gested—may conceivably have been built—but it seems 
certain that she could never have been successful or practical. 

Carthage, that great enemy of Rome, was a city of traders 
—a city that depended on the sea for its wealth and, to a 
large extent, even for its sustenance. Rome, on the other 
hand, grew to considerable size without venturing on the 
sea. When she did first turn her attention to the water, as 
her continued expansion forced her to do, she found that 
Carthage crossed her course whichever way she turned. The 
result was war. 

But war between two cities separated by the width of 
the Mediterranean had to be fought largely on the sea, and 
Rome, inexperienced as a sea-going nation, was put to a 
severe test. 

By chance, however, a Carthaginian quinquireme—that 
is, a five-banked ship—battered by storm and abandoned 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHIPS 17 


Y 


spel fin a ice 


aN a 





AN OUTRIGGER CANOE 
Sometimes these canoes have an outrigger on each side, and sometimes they 


carry sails. 
by her crew, drifted ashore on the sunny coast of Italy, 
and the Romans, quick to see the importance of the happen- 
ing, hauled her high and dry, measured her, and learned 
from her battered hull the lessons they needed to know of 
ship construction. 

They built on dry land sets of rowers’ seats, and while they 
taught rowers to pull their oars in unison in these unique 
training benches, they set to work with the energy that 
marked Rome out for great success. Sixty days after they 
had felled the trees, they had a fleet of quinquiremes afloat 
and manned. 

Promptly they turned the prows of this new fleet toward 
the Carthaginians—and were defeated. 

But with the indomitable will that characterized the 
Romans for two thousand years, they went to work again, 
and built a new fleet and a more powerful one. This time 


18 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


some inventive Roman devised a kind of hinged gangplank, 
which could be dropped upon the deck of an enemy ship, 
maintaining its hold by a heavy metal barb which would 
penetrate the decks. Across this bridge the Roman soldiers 
could rush, and by this means could turn a naval battle into 
what was very nearly the same to these land-trained soldiers 
as a battle on dry land, where hard blows with sword and 
spear determined the result. 

With this new apparatus the Romans, under Duilius, in 
260 B. C., gained a victory at Myle, off the coast of Sicily, 
and after three wars, covering, with intervals between, 118 
years, drove the Carthaginians from the sea and razed their 
beautiful city to the ground. 

It is not my purpose, in this chapter, to go into great 
detail in telling of the development of ships from this time on, 
for the designs were infinitely great, the variations numerous, 
and there were, until the 19th Century, but two vital improve- 
ments—the compass and a considerable improvement in the 
ability of sailing ships to make headway against the wind. 

Rome, during most of the centuries of her supremacy, 
controlled every sea within her reach. ‘The Mediterranean 
was entirely hers, and her galleys and her soldiers ventured 
into the Atlantic and visited parts of the world that seemed 
to stay-at-home Romans to be the very fringes of the earth. 
The ships they built grew in size: the corn-ships, which 
brought food to the capital from Egypt, are thought to 
have been as much as 200 feet long, 45 feet broad, and 43 
feet deep. When St. Paul was shipwrecked he was in com- 
pany with 276 others, and the ship they were on carried a 
cargo besides. These ships carried three masts, each having 
huge square sails, and on one mast was spread a square top- 
sail as well. 

Roman ships that voyaged to Britain probably gave to 
the wild men of the North—including those who later be- 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHIPS 19 


came the Vikings—the idea of the sail, and probably all 
the people of northern Europe learned the use of sails, 
directly or indirectly, from the Romans. 

Ultimately Rome fell beneath the onslaughts of the Bar- 
barians, and the Mediterranean seat of power (although 
still called the Roman Empire) moved to Byzantium, now 
called Constantinople. 

Here Western civilization resisted for centuries the at- 
tacks of the Mohammedans, until the great city on the 
Bosphorus fell before the armies of Mohammed in 1453. 

During all of the centuries that Constantinople had been 
holding out against the growing power of the Mohammedans, 
the west and north of Europe were being remade. For a 







wo” 


NIN 
i 
Ve, 


A PHCENICIAN BIREME 


Despite the fact that the Phenicians did more with ships than any other 
ancient peoples before the Greeks and Romans, little is known of Phenician 
ships. They developed the bireme, an oar- and sail-driven ship with two 
“banks”’ of oars, and circumnavigated Africa. 


20 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


time Western civilization seemed doomed, for the Moorish 
Empire in North Africa had pushed across the Strait of 
Gibraltar, had subjugated Spain, and had crossed the 
Pyrenees into France, where, fortunately, their great army 
was put to rout at the battle of Tours in 732. But although 
they were driven from France they maintained their hold 
upon Spain, and not until the Granada Moors were defeated. 
by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492 was Spain again free of 
them. They controlled North Africa from Suez to Gibraltar 
and introduced many Eastern ideas. It is probable that 
the lateen sail, which originated in Egypt and is still in com- 
mon use in the Mediterranean, owes at least some credit 
to the Moors for its introduction to western Europe. 

In addition to the influx of Mohammedans, civilized 
Europe had to contend with the hordes of barbarians that 
descended from the wild country to the north of the Alps, 
for the most of Europe except its Mediterranean fringe was a 
dark and barbarous land. But the centuries that we call 
the Middle Ages saw a growth of culture, a growth of learn- 
ing, a growth of nationalism that were to make the modern 
world. In all of this ships played a vital part. 

The Vikings, with their open boats, propelled by oars and 
sometimes aided by great square sails, terrorized Britain and 
northern Europe for a time, even driving their boats up the 
Seine to the walls of the city of Paris, which was then built 
on a tiny island in the river. But at last the Saxons, under 
Alfred the Great, with the first ships of the long series of 
ships that were built to protect England, drove the wild 
sailor warriors away, and a new epoch had begun. 

During this time Venice and Genoa had developed, and 
the ships that sailed from those two cities were for a time the 
proudest of the world. 

But their development was so largely commercial that 
it was only with difficulty that they could maintain navies 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHIPS 21 


capable of protecting their vast fleets, which were attacked 
by pirates, by the ships of other cities, and by each other so 
constantly that sea-going was a hazardous occupation, and 
ships perforce sailed always in convoys, or at least in the 
company of other ships, for protection. Then in the north 





Heal 
Ag au 


TOT WA Tet MS TP IO cI 1s 3 OBS 





< Sa eee Qn ne 


A GREEK TRIREME 


These warships were about 120 feet in length, and the sails and spars were 
ah down and sent ashore if battle was expected. The oars were operated 
by slaves. 


William the Conqueror crossed the English Channel, de- 
feated the Saxons at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, and the 
foundations for the present British Empire were laid. If 
the Saxons had developed a navy with which they could 
have met and defeated the Norman conqueror on the sea, 
think of the enormous difference it would have made in the 
history of Britain. 


22 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


During the Middle Ages following the conquest of Britain, 
an association of northern European cities, called the Han- 
seatic League, was formed in order to protect their trade, 
and for a time proved to be a very important factor in the 
maritime development of the north of Europe. Had 
Venice and Genoa formed such a cooperative association 
instead of frittering away their strength, bickering and 
fighting, another story would have been written in the 
Mediterranean. 

During all this time ships had been changing gradually 
in design. Oars still drove the fastest ships of war in the 
Mediterranean, but sails had taken a more important place, 
and now whole voyages were made by means of sails alone. 

The 15th Century came, and with it the fall of Constan- 
tinople; and with it, too, in Genoa, that nautical city of 
Italy, the birth of a child named Christopher Columbus. 
He grew to manhood and became a sailor, and sailed on 
voyages here and there, and was wrecked finally on the coast 
of Portugal. But here was no ordinary man. Thousands 
of other sailors had had his opportunities, but none of them 
took so seriously the idea that the world was round. The 
idea, of course, was not Columbus’s own. It had received 
some attention for centuries among a few great minds. 
But Columbus, not content with accepting the shape of the 
world as a theory, wanted to make the voyage that would 
prove it. Already, in the previous century, a great stride 
had been made in seamanship by the introduction of the 
compass. This appeared mysteriously in Mediterranean 
waters, from no definitely known direction, but it seems 
probable that it came, by a very indirect route, from China, 
where it had been known and used for many years. Prob- 
ably this introduction of the compass to the Western world 
was made by the Mohammedans, for they traded as far 
east as the Persian Gulf—perhaps farther—and natives of 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHIPS 23 


India, with whom the Chinese came into occasional contact, 
often made the voyage from India to Muscat, so that it 
seems likely that the compass came to Europe by this route. 

But to return to Columbus. He took his idea to the King 
of Portugal, and was turned away. From Portugal the 
penniless sailor turned to Spain, and many times was re- 
fused by the monarchs of that country, for they were busy 
at the time with the final expulsion of the Moors. After 
several years of unsuccessful petitioning at the Spanish 
Court, Columbus gave up and started on his weary way to 
France. But Queen Isabella sent a messenger after him, 
and he was recalled and told that he could make the attempt 
to discover the westward route to India with the aid and 
under the flag of Spain. 

On August 3, 1492, he sailed from Palos in command of 
three little ships—three ships that are now more famous 
than any others that ever sailed the seas; and with these 
ships—the Santa Maria, the Nina, and the Pinta—he dis- 
covered a new world and opened new seas that now are 
crossed and recrossed constantly by such a fleet of ships as 
Columbus could never have imagined. 

By the end of the 15th Century, as I have suggested, ships 
had gone through a series of developments that had made 
them more seaworthy and more reliable, but still, from the 
viewpoint of to-day, they were crude and inefficient craft in 
which the modern sailor would hesitate to venture on the 
smoothest of summer seas. The ships of war, so far as the 
Mediterranean was concerned, still favoured the oar, and 
still used sails as auxiliary power, although England and 
France, and the other newer nations of the north of Europe, 
were developing sturdy ships that depended almost solely 
upon sails, although they often carried great overgrown 
oars called sweeps, with which the ships could be moved 
_ slowly in the absence of the wind. 


24 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


The galleys of the Mediterranean were no longer the 
many-banked ships of Greece and Rome, but were, instead, 
low, narrow vessels with huge oars from thirty to fifty feet 
long, to each of which several men were assigned, thus 
securing the man power that the many-banked ships had 
utilized with more numerous oars. In order to manage 
these ungainly oars a framework was built out from each side 
of the ship, and attached to this framework were the oar- 
locks. This arrangement has its present-day counterpart 
in racing shells which, being barely wide enough for the 
rowers, cannot balance its oars in locks attached directly 
to its sides. Therefore a framework of steel rods is built 
opposite each seat in order that the oarlock may be at such 
a distance from the rower that he may get the necessary 
leverage to make each stroke effective. 

The Crusades, which began in the 12th Century, had ac- 
quainted western Europe with many luxuries of the East 
hitherto unknown to the rougher people of the West, and as 
a result, trade increased greatly, necessitating the building 
of many ships, and as is always the case, progress was made 
because new minds were put to work. In this case ships 
improved. Metal nails, expensive as they were, for they 
were made, of course, by hand, had come into use, and new 
designs took the place of old. 

The ship that, at the time of Columbus, was the most 
popular was the caravel. To our eyes she was ungainly, 
crude, and unseaworthy, yet these clumsy vessels, with 
their high sterns and overhanging bows, made most of the 
early voyages of discovery—voyages that for romance, for 
adventure, for danger, and for importance, rank higher than 
any others that were ever made. 

Two of Columbus’s three ships were caravels. The Vina, 
however, was but a tiny cockleshell, only partially decked, 
that proved, by chance, the most valuable of the three, for 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHIPS 25 





SEATING ARRANGEMENT OF ROWERS IN A GREEK TRIREME 


While there were other arrangements that were sometimes used, this seems to 
have been much the most common. The slaves who operated the oars were 
Aiea in place, and in case of shipwreck or disaster were usually left to their 

ate. 


in her Columbus was forced by circumstances to return to 
Spain after the Santa Maria had been wrecked by a careless 
helmsman on a far-off island in the world that she had found, 
and the Pinta had wandered away, the Discoverer knew not 
where, in the hands of men tempted to be unfaithful to their 
great commander. 

So important was the work done by the Santa Maria and 
the other caravels of her day that were sailed by Vasco da 
Gama around the Cape of Good Hope, by Americus Vespu- 
cius to the South American mainland, by the Cabots to 
Nova Scotia and New England, and by other great discoverers 
on other great voyages, that they warrant closer attention 
than has been given to other passing types. With a fleet 
of caravels Magellan sailed from Spain, crossed the Atlantic, 
skirted the South American coast, discovered the land we 


26 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


now call Argentina, where he found a people he named the 
‘“Patagonians’’ because they had big feet. In subsequent 
accounts by a member of his crew these people were said to 
be giants, although they are merely men of good height and 
strength. From Patagonia, Magellan sailed south and 
entered a channel on each side of which lay mighty mountains — 
rising precipitately from the water. The land to the south 
he named Tierra del Fuego—the Land of Fire—either be- 
cause of the glow of now extinct volcanic fires that he saw, 
or of distant camp-fires of the natives which he sighted as he 
made the passage, and this land for many years was supposed 
to be a great continent that stretched from the Strait of 
Magellan, as the passage Magellan found was later called, 
to the south polar regions. 

From the western end of the Strait, Magellan steered to 
the north and west, diagonally across the greatest expanse 
of water on the globe—an ocean discovered only a few years 
earlier by Balboa when he crossed the Isthmus of Panama, 
and named by him the Great South Sea, but renamed by 
Magellan, because of the gentle weather he encountered, the 
Pacific. In all the voyage across the Pacific he discovered 
but two islands, although he sailed through the section 
occupied by the numerous archipelagoes that we call the 
South Sea Islands. 

After terrible suffering ci scurvy, from lack of water, 
almost from starvation, the little fleet of four ships (one had 
deserted just after the Pacific was reached) finally reached 
the Philippines. Already Magellan had sailed under the 
Portuguese flag around the Cape of Good Hope to a point 
in the East Indies farther east than the Philippines, so he 
was, actually, the first man ever to circumnavigate the globe. 
In the Philippines, however, he was inveigled into an alliance 
with a perfidious chief named Cebu, who, after witnessing 
Magellan’s death at the hands of the natives of a neighbour- 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHIPS 27 


ing island (he was pierced in the back by a spear), captured 
and murdered two of Magellan’s chief officers, after which 
the dwindling band of adventurers burned one of their ships, 
for they were short-handed, and sailed to the south and 
west with the remaining three. Two more ships were lost 
ere the Atlantic was again reached, and at last the Vittoria, 
the only ship remaining of the original five, reached the 
Canaries, where thirteen men out of the forty-four who still 
remained were thrown into prison by the Portuguese gover- 
nor, and only thirty-one of the original two hundred and 





AN EARLY 16TH-CENTURY SHIP 


This ship, while similar in many respects to Columbus’s Santa Maria, 
has made some advances over that famous vessel. The foremast ts fitted to 
carry a topsail in addition to the large foresail shown set in this picture. 
On ships somewhat later than this one a small spar was sometimes erected 
perpendicularly at the end of the bowsprit, and a sprit topsail was set above 
the spritsail which is shown below the bowsprit here. 


28 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


eighty returned to Spain to tell their wondering countrymen 
the story of their travels. That voyage, saving only the 
first voyage made by Columbus, was the greatest in the 
history of men upon the sea. 

These voyages, as I have said, were mostly made in cara- 
vels. None of the ships was large, and Columbus’s flagship, 
the Santa Maria, was below rather than above the average. 
Vasco da Gama’s ships were larger, as were many others. 
But no other ship in history is so widely known as that 
little vessel of Columbus’s, and a description of her, being a 
description of caravels in general, is of double interest. 

From bow to stern she measured but ninety feet, and she 
displaced about one hundred tons. But more than that is 
needed to give one an adequate idea of her limitations. 
The bow was high and awkwardly overhung the water by 
twelve feet, not being carried gradually out as are the bows 
of sailing ships to-day, but jutting ponderously forward 
from an almost vertical stem. Amidships the deck was low, 
dropping down abruptly about one fourth of the way aft. 
This midship deck (it was called the waist) was unbroken for 
another fourth of the vessel’s length, and then another deck 
was built at about the level of the forward deck, behind which 
a high sterncastle reared itself aloft until it surpassed the 
altitude of the forward deck, but fortunately did not jut out 
over the water aft as the bow did forward. 

These two raised sections at the opposite ends of the ship 
were originally built with the idea of defense in mind. Ships 
for many centuries had had raised platforms fore and aft, 
on which the men who defended them could congregate in 
order to rain their arrows upon the decks of enemy ships. 
So useful were these “‘castles”’ that often enemy boarders 
were able to penetrate to the waist only to be driven off 
by the rain of missiles on their heads. When gunpowder 
came into general use tiny cannon were mounted in swivels 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHIPS 29 


attached to the bulwarks of these “castles,” but old ideas 
were not easily got rid of, and for a long time ships continued 
to be built with raised bows and sterns. 

So it was that the Santa Maria had her forecastle and her 
sterncastle. The former term is still in use on ships, and 
signifies the quarters of the crew, which still are often placed 
in the bows of ships. The sterncastle has no present-day 
counterpart, and the name, too, has long since disappeared 
from ships. 

The cabin of the great Admiral was aft, in the topmost 
section of the sterncastle and was, from our point of view, 
not exactly palatial. It had a bed, which looked more like 
a chest except that it had highly raised head and foot boards 
of carved wood. There was a table, and there was little 
else. A door opened on to the high narrow deck, and 
windows (ports such as ships now use were not then thought 
of) opened in the narrow stern high above the water. 

The crews’ quarters were almost non-existent. Generally 
they slept on deck, although there was room between decks 
for some of them. This space, however, was not ventilated 
(that, of course, had little effect on a 15th-Century Spaniard. 
Even the Spaniards of the lower classes to-day seem some- 
what averse to ventilation) and was devoted to cargo and 
supplies. Below this space was the “bilge” which was filled 
with stone for ballast. The raised forward deck was in 
reality just a platform that incidentally formed a roof over 
the forward section of the main deck—the deck, that is, 
that formed the waist—and beneath this forecastle deck were 
protected spots where the crew could secure some shelter 
from the weather. They cooked, when they cooked at all, 
on a box of small stones that sat on the main deck just under 
the edge of the raised forecastle. This crude fireplace was 
decorated by a large square plate of zinc that stood upright, 
attached to one side of the box, to serve as a windbreak. 


30 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


Below, swishing around among the stone that formed the 
ballast, was the ever-present bilge water that was always a 
serious problem in these ill-built hulls. It was a never- 
ending annoyance, even in fair weather, and had constantly 
to be pumped out or bailed out. And when these ungainly 
craft met with heavy weather their situation was serious, 
for the strains caused by the waves opened seams here and 
there, and often allowed so much water to enter that founder- 
ing resulted. ven when Spain, ninety years after Colum- 
bus, sent her vast Armada to threaten England, only to have 
it defeated by Drake and his companions, and scattered by 
the North Atlantic storms after it had rounded Scotland in 
its attempt to return to Spain, ship after ship, tossed by the 
boisterous seas, twisted and groaned and opened her seams, 
and sank in the cold black water or drove head on to the 
rocky coast of Ireland. The great storm they encountered 
sank twenty times as many ships as did the fleet that so ably 
defended England. 

And in such ships as these the hardy men of bygone times 
searched out the unknown lands of earth, braved the storms 
of great uncharted seas, braved, too, the unknown dangers 
which, exaggerated by their imaginations, grew to such size 
as might have made the bravest quail. And when their 
ships were dashed to wreckage on some uncharted rock, or 
filled with water when their seams were spread, those who 
saved their lives and managed to return to port, shipped 
again and faced the same threatening dangers. 

In the adventurous days that followed Columbus, ship 
design and ship construction developed rapidly. ‘The desire 
to carry heavy guns led to placing them on the main deck 
where they fired over the low bulwarks or wales which since 
then have been called gunwales. ‘Then the desire to carry 
more guns led to placing them between decks where ports 
were cut in the sides of the ship for them to fire through. 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHIPS 31 


The British and the French led in both design and construc- 
tion, the British having built ships of 1,000 tons as early as 
the reign of Henry V in 1413. But so far as size was con- 
cerned, other nations followed suit, and when Medina 
Sedonia came driving up the English Channel with the 132 


‘Se 1 Tae onde hia (Ftp x 
SULLLLPLSAL OLD POLIO TO cea 


——_——— - 
= 


— Sse end rca 
— oe === 
—S— ———_—— 


————— 





A MEDITERRANEAN GALLEY 


This ship is of the type used long after the Middle Ages. Several men pulled 
each oar and all the oars were in one bank. 


ships of the Spanish Armada stretched in its vast crescent, 
at least one ship was of 1,300 tons. 

But the oaken fleet of England, while it had no ship 
quite to equal in size this giant Spaniard, was more than a 
match for the Don, and Drake, that master of seamanship, 
refused to drive alongside the clumsy Spaniards, but lay off, 


5p SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


instead, and peppered them with gun-fire, and following 
them up the English Channel, fell upon those that dropped 
behind. 

The opening of the Americas and the East to trade and 
colonization resulted in an expansion of ship-building such 
as the world had never before known, an opportunity of 
which an oar-driven ship could never have taken advantage. 

Portugal, for a time—owing to her many colonial posses- 
sions, which now have largely faded away—became a great 
sea power, which, however, shortly suffered eclipse. Spain, 
despite the terrible catastrophe that befell her great Armada, 
remained a power of real strength for a century longer. 
The Dutch, those hardy sailors from the low countries, 
for many a year sailed to and from their East Indian pos- 
sessions, proudly conscious of the fact that they were supreme 
upon the seas. And the French, although their strength at 
sea was never clearly supreme, nevertheless built navies and 
sailed ships second to none, or at the least, to none but 
Britain. 

But one by one these sovereigns of the seas gave up the 
place to another, and the 18th Century saw a new ruler of 
the waves, when Great Britain at last bested Napoleonic 
France at the Nile, at Aboukir, and at Trafalgar. 

By this time ships had grown greatly in size, and by the 
opening of the 19th Century the great three-decked line-of- 
battle ships were more than 200 feet in length, were 55 feet 
broad, and displaced 3,000 tons or more. Such a ship 
could not be termed small even in the light of ships of a 
century later. 

But the opening years of the 19th Century brought for- 
ward an invention which, laughed at and disdained by 
‘“‘wind-jammers”’ for half a century, proved, at last, despite 
their jeers, the force that swept from the sea all but a handful 
of the proud vessels that for nearly five thousand years had 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHIPS 30 


spread their sails to the winds of Heaven and had gone to 
the uttermost parts of the earth. 

A hundred years after the Charlotte Dundas had churned 
the waters of the Forth and Clyde Canal and the Clermont 
had splashed with her paddle-wheels the waters of the Hud- 
son, sailing ships had become rare, romantic links to connect 
the modern world with that adventurous period that lay 
before the era of invention and machinery. 

With slow steps the 19th Century ushered in the recogni- 
tion of the power of steam—a new departure in the history 
of the world. But ere five score years had passed, the wheels 
of factories whirred in deafening array, electric motors 
whined with endless energy, and huge propellers, spiralling 
through the deep green sea, drove great ocean-going palaces 
from continent to continent, careless of winter’s winds or 
summer’s sultry calms, all but thoughtless of the powers of 
nature which, since the dawn of history, had been the ruling 
thought of all of those who have ventured on the surface of 
the deep. ? 


CHAPTER II 
THE DEVELOPMENT OF SAILS 


HE origin of sails is buried in the darkness of prehis- 

toric days. Perhaps some hunter, paddling his dugout 
canoe before the breeze, had his loose skin cape distended 
by the wind which continued to propel him even when he 
stopped paddling in order to fasten his garment more closely 
about him. No doubt something of this kind occurred many 
times before some prehistoric observer noticed the cause and 
related to it the effect. Perhaps, then, he held the skin 
up on his paddle or on his staff, and sat back in comparative 
comfort while the breeze did his work for him. Certainly 
such an origin is possible, and man’s desire to accomplish cer- 
tain ends without expending his energy unnecessarily may, in 
this as in many other things, have led him to take so im- 
portant a step toward civilization. From using a skin held 
on his staff to spreading the skin on a stick which in turn was 
held up by another stick was but a step, and an excellent 
means of propelling his canoe had been developed. The 
perfection of this method of propulsion, however, was slow. 
How many years before the dawn of written history such 
sails were in common use we do not know, nor can we guess 
with any accuracy. It is probable, however, that the time 
was long, for the very first accounts we have of ships tell us, 
too, of sails. 

I have already traced the development of ships from this 
early time, and it is not my desire to retrace my steps more 
than is necessary, for ships have always progressed as their 
propulsion progressed, and consequently the story of ships is 

34 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SAILS 30 


also the story of propulsion. But sails, it would almost seem, 
had less to do with the early development of ships than oars, 
which for many thousand years after the dawn of history 
were apparently more important in the eyes of men of the 
sea than sails. 

Because of this attitude toward oars, and perhaps, too, 
because of the comparatively restricted waters in which 
ships originated, the inventive genius of early designers 
seems to have been expended almost wholly upon the per- 
fection of the use of oars, until, as I have explained, truly 
great ships were built in which much thought was given to 
the proper seating of hundreds of oarsmen. 

Sails, then, progressed little, save in size, beyond the skin 
that first was stretched before the breeze in some remote 
savage genius’s canoe, and, until the Crusades on at the 


——- ae 
= aa Ay AOA 
my ss =F n- 


















AN EGYPTIAN BOAT OF THE 5TH DYNASTY 


The double mast, shown in this drawing, was in common use in Egypt about 
3000 B. C. It is occasionally to be seen on native boats in the Orient to-day. 


36 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


end of the 11th Century, sails and spars remained simple 
and, from the viewpoint of to-day, comparatively inefficient. 
With a favouring wind ships could hoist their sails and 
proceed merrily enough, but with a wind even mildly un- 
favourable sailors sometimes lay in sheltered harbours for 
weeks or got out their oars and proceeded on their way with 
strenuous labour. 

When ships first began to utilize sails to go in directions 
other than approximately that in which the wind blew is 
unknown. Certainly ships propelled by even the crudest 
sails could do more than drift before the wind, and as hulls 
became longer and deeper, they were, of course, able to sail 
more and more to the right and left. When, however, ships 
first were able to make headway against the wind is problem- 
atical. Certain it is that for many thousand years after sails 
were known there seems to have been no connection in the 
minds of ship-builders between the use of sails and the con- 
struction of the underbodies of their ships so as to interpose 
any especial obstacle to the water in order to prevent the un- 
due motion of their hulls sideways. Naturally enough, the 
very earliest of ships was constructed with the idea of ease of 
propulsion forward, but, so long as that object was gained, the 
shape of the hull, apparently, gave them little thought save in 
so far as space was needed for crew and cargo. Designs were 
brought out, of course, that were increasingly sturdy and 
seaworthy, but fin keels, or similar contrivances, are a de- 
velopment of recent times. 

Ships there were, of course, even in ancient times, that 
were driven exclusively, or almost exclusively, by sails, 
but the fact that these ships, and many that depended 
largely on oars, were hauled high and dry and carefully 
laid up during the less favourable seasons would seem to 
prove that except under ideal conditions sails, as they were 
then, were highly impractical affairs. 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SAILS Bi 


The earliest sails of which there is definite record are those 
shown in carvings of ships on ancient Egyptian temples. 
These were hardly more complicated than the skins of the 
theoretical savage who first utilized the energy of the wind. 
They were made of cloth and were rectangular and were 


=== 
fot 





aa ae 
TT ee 

<—s “Leal _ Whine, tars 
AN EGYPTIAN SHIP OF THE 12TH DYNASTY 


It is possible that ships of this type were able, under ideal conditions, to 
make a little headway, while under sail, against the wind. It was not for many, 
many centuries, however, that sailing ships were able definitely to make much 
headway in that direction. 


stretched between two spars—one at the top and one at the 
bottom—and these spars were raised and lowered in the 
process of making or taking in sail. 

Now this method of stretching a sail is not inefficient. 
The cloth can be held more or less flat, and such a sail could, 
if the hull of the ship were so constructed as almost to prevent 
lateral motion, propel the hull in the direction it was pointed, 


38 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


even though that direction were at right angles to the wind. 
If the hull were properly designed, such a sail might readily 
be made to propel the bull at a little less than at right 
angles, and, once that were done, the ship would actually 
be making headway against the wind. It is quite conceiva- 
ble that the Egyptians had perfected this art—not, perhaps, 
with the sail I have mentioned, but with a later development 
of this sail when the lower spar had disappeared and the 
upper spar had become greatly elongated and was set at an 
angle to the mast, so that from it depended a great triangular 
sail, called, now, a lateen sail. 

But authorities differ, and although there has been much 
argument as to whether Roman ships of amuch later date— 
for instance, the one in which St. Paul was shipwrecked— 
could sail so as to make good a course even slightly against 
the wind, the argument has still remained only an argument, 
with neither side definitely able to make its case. And this, 
it seems to me, proves that while perhaps under ideal con- 
ditions and with some ships this highly important end was 
sometimes gained, nevertheless, the ancients were not, by 
and large, able to sail any course save when the wind was 
blowing from some angle of the half circle toward the centre 
of which the ship’s stern was pointed, or, in the language 
of the sea, when the wind was “‘abeam”’ or “‘abaft the beam.” 

But while sails were not perfected, and consequently were 
of particular use only when the wind was more or less astern, 
ships grew in size, and consequently more sail area was re- 
quired to propel them. ‘This resulted in the enlarging of 
the single sail until it grew clumsy and finally resulted in the 
use of more than one sail, each spread from a mast of its 
own. Later still, in these ships carrying several masts, one 
would sometimes carry two sails, one above the other. 
Occasionally, ships with but one mast similarly subdivided 
their great square sails. Roman ships of the larger sizes 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SAILS 39 


et LT rere errr | 






















ome! Sr 
a, 


Ye ur = 





A ROMAN SHIP 


Although this ship was small the Romans built many that were not 
surpassed for 1,700 years, and it was not until the 19th Century was 
well advanced that the larger Roman ships were greatly surpassed in size. 


—notably the corn-ships that brought food to the capital 
from Egypt—developed this subdivision of sails, but it was 
hardly more than a subdivision for more than a thousand 
years after the time of Christ—in reality, not for 1,500 years, 
for even the caravels of the time of Columbus had few actual 
improvements over the earliest ships of the Christian Era. 
It is true that the lateen sail had been adopted largely for 
use on the mizzenmast—or third mast from the bow—and 
that that sail has more driving power than a square sail 
when the ship is heading into the wind. But still ships 
were weak in “going to windward ’’—that is, in making any 
headway in sailing into that half of the compass’s circle 
that is marked by ninety degrees to the right and to the left 
of the point directly toward the wind. This is borne out by 
the complaints of Columbus’s men, who, when they found 


40 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


themselves being driven westward day after day with the 
steady Trade Winds from behind them, expressed their 
fear of never again being able to return to Spain. 

But, clumsy as these old sailing ships were, they came and 
went, searching farther and farther into the unknown world, 
proving, beyond doubt, that men have always been able to 
get along, even with crude instruments, and that, in the last 
analysis, men are more important than equipment. 

So awkward in our eyes were the ships of Columbus’s 
time that when replicas of his original ships were built in 
1893, for the World’s Fair at Chicago, and were sailed by 
Capt. D. U. Concas, an experienced modern seaman, over 
the course Columbus took, the feat was looked upon as 
extraordinary, despite the fact that Captain Concas’s 
knowledge of winds, currents, and navigation was infinitely 
superior to the great discoverer’s. So great were the steps 
taken in 400 years of ship-building that this feat, far simpler 
than scores that are recorded in the stories of the old ad- 
venturers, was hailed as heroic. But we have accustomed 
ourselves to sailing ships that can be handled with such 
marvellous ease that it would take an exceptionally able and 
fearless sailor to handle even that replica of the Santa 
Maria that still is to be seen anchored in a park lake at 
Chicago. He would be a truly fearless or a truly foolish 
man who would attempt to take her across Lake Michigan 
in anything more than the mildest of summer zephyrs. 

But once the voyage of Columbus had taught Europe how 
little it really knew of the world there came the insistent 
demand for better ships, and as ships had by this time 
reached the point where far the greater part were propelled 
by sails alone, the demand for the perfection of ships resulted 
in the perfection of sails as well as the perfection of hulls. 
England and Holland, together with the other northern 
European countries, are largely responsible for this improve- 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SAILS Al 


ment, although France for many years built the finest ships 
that sailed the seas. 

Down to the 14th Century the ships of northern Europe 
showed strongly the Scandinavian influence. ‘The Vikings 
had developed ships similar in shape to the whaleboats of 
to-day. They were double-ended affairs, long, low, narrow, 
and fast, propelled largely by oars, but carrying, generally, 
one large square sail set about amidships on a sturdy 
mast. 

In these ships the Norsemen regularly sailed the Baltic 
and the North seas, where the elements give even the ships 
of to-day many a vicious shaking. Yet these sturdy old 
pirates, for they were hardly more, ploughed their way 
through storm and fog, without compasses, without any 










yy h 
‘th { 


0 
f 
Hl 














IMGT ie SSO 


Sal 


b} 
ana 





ibis 






Vii Pa 
= der 


S 

‘a 
sii 
Ti} 





A VIKING SHIP 


These ships were developed by the Norse sea rovers for use in war, and as 
the seas they sailed were generally rough their ships had to be seaworthy. 
The result was a type that still leaves its mark. The seaworthy whaleboats 
of to-day are very similar in shape. 


=e 


A2 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


method of determining their positions at sea except their 
instinct and what guesses they could make—measuring 
voyages not by miles but by days—coming, going, bent only 
on conquest and on pillage. Nor did they confine themselves 
to the more or less landlocked seas. They launched their 
sturdy boats from the narrow beaches of Norwegian fjords, 
and with sturdy backs bent to sturdy oars, and great, colour- 
ful square sails set when the wind was right, drove their 
ships to Scotland, to the Orkneys, the Faroes, and to Iceland, 
and not content with that drove on to Greenland, to Labra- 
dor, to Nova Scotia, and probably drew up their ships on 
the shores of the very bay that waited yet another half a 
thousand years ere the Pilgrims saw it from the unsteady 
deck of the Mayflower. 

In their open boats that tossed like flotsam among the 
angry waves, these hardy mariners lived. Their food must 
often have been hardly edible, their supplies of water hardly 
fit to drink, and comfort there never could have been. Wet 
through by boarding seas, all but unprotected from the cold 
of long sub-Arctic nights, or scorched by the sun in breath- 
less summer calms, their beards caked with salt from the 
driving spray, or dripping moisture left there by the fogs, 
these heroes of the sea swung their oars for days, for weeks, 
perhaps for months, and feared the great Atlantic not at all. 

They built these ships of theirs from the lumber that cov- 
ered Norway’s mountain-sides. They hewed the timbers, 
and fashioned them, and made their ships as artists paint 
their canvases, not by the aid of mathematics but by the aid 
of the innate art that was theirs and the experience of gen- 
erations of forefathers bred to the sea. They launched their 
ships into the slate-gray waters of the stormy north, and 
stocked them with rough food and rough implements They 
shoved off from the rocky coast of the land that had bred 
them and swung their great oars over the crests of the surging 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SAILS AD 


sea, and clear of the land hoisted their sails and were gone 
to new worlds far across the ocean. 

To us who live in a world so supercivilized that the Norse- 
man’s wildest dreams could not have approached the com- 
monplaces of modern life, it is difficult to imagine a crew of 





A 13TH-CENTURY ENGLISH SHIP 


The Viking influence is still easily traceable in this ship, but the forecastle and 
the sterncastle have put in their appearance. Also the hull is heavier than and 
not so sharp as in the earlier Viking ships. 


these stern and brawny men, fifty or sixty strong, perhaps, 
with their barbaric helmets temporarily laid aside, with 
their shields hung along the gunwales, and with their great 
backs bending in unison to the oars. Seated on the heavy 
thwarts, their supplies below their feet, their swords and 
battle-axes strewn about carelessly, but handy to each cal- 


44 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


loused palm, they pulled for hours, chanting their songs of 
war, roaring their choruses. Pausing now and then to 
rest or to fill horn flagons from some supply of ale; tearing 
with their teeth at salted fish or haunch of tough dried meat; 
changing their positions now and then, perhaps, to keep 
their hardened muscles from growing stiff; sleeping in the 
bow or stern, or down among the bales and bundles that 
lined the long, low hull; wrapped in homespun capes in rain 
or fog or driving spray—thus did these hardy mariners sail 
to the west and home again. Leaving a land where life was 
hard, they journeyed far to other lands at least as bleak 
as theirs, and journeyed back again, not looking for the 
land of spice, or summer seas, or far, romantic Cathay. 
Of such climes they knew nothing, nor did they care. 

As time passed these ships became heavier and broader, 
with more draft and with higher sides, although they still 
retained the sharp stern which was somewhat similar to the 
bow. The sails, however, developed little and about the 
only complication was an additional strip of canvas that 
could be laced to the foot of the sail, increasing its area con- 
siderably. In light winds this was attached. In heavy 
winds it was unlaced. This, by the way, was a common 
feature before the later methods of reefing sails came into use. 

But now we come to a time when ship designers began 
consciously to refine the crude ships with which they were 
familiar. As a result, sails from 1450 to 1850 went through 
a process of development far exceeding the development 
that had taken place during those unnumbered centuries 
from the time of the first sail up to 1450. 

So complicated is the story of this development and so 
limited is the space in a single book that I must content 
myself with utilizing only the remainder of this chapter 
for the story of the development of sails during the first 350 
of these 400 memorable years, leaving for the following 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SAILS 45 

















LPS 2 
Md, 
Aw VV\\ 


a) ye SJ] ee ie 











A GALLEON OF THE TIME OF ELIZABETH 


The extremely high stern and the low bow shown in this drawing are 
about as extreme as any in use during the period when high bows and low 
sterns were thought to be good design. 


chapter the story of the final perfection of sailing ships 
which took place in the first half of the 19th Century. 

It is not difficult to see what happened to make the de- 
velopment of sails so slow a process. Not only sails, but 
also practically every art and interest of mankind had re- 
ceived a serious setback with the decay of Rome. ‘The Dark 
Ages followed with their woeful ignorance, and it was not 
until after the Crusades had been followed by the Renais- 
sance, which brought with it a renewed interest in every 
subject the people of Europe knew anything about, that 
ships—and practically everything else—began to recover 
from the fearful retrogression that had taken place during 
the better part of ten centuries. 


46 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


It was not, for instance, until the latter part of the 15th 
Century that the bowsprit appeared in common use in 
northern Europe, although this feature had, fifteen hundred 
or more years before, been in common use on Roman ships, 
where it was used to carry a small square sail called the 
‘“artemon.” The bowsprit seems to have originated as a 
sort of mast that was set far forward in the bow, in order 
that a sail spread from it would be in the best position to 
aid in swinging a ship from one side to the other. In order 
to make this sail still more effective by giving it greater 
leverage on the hull the mast was tilted more and more 
forward until it projected far over the bow. From this bow- 
sprit a small square sail was spread, called, later, a 
spritsail, and this development began to make real sailing 
ships of ships that formerly had used sails for little more than 
auxiliary work. 

But the Dark Ages ruined everything, and it was not 
until the Crusades later re-introduced the people of northern 
Europe to those of the Mediterranean that the northerners, 
who later became the greatest seamen the world has ever 
seen, began to get away from the Viking influence in the 
building of ships. 

But once the shipwrights of England and Holland and 
France began to see the advantages of even the crude ships 
that were occasionally sailed by the Venetians and the Geno- 
ese to the bleak northern waters, the improvement in 
northern ships began. 

The single mast with its simple square sail was supple- 
mented by another mast and by the slanting mast at the 
bow that became the bowsprit, and it became the custom in 
northern waters, as it already was the custom in southern, 
to use two or.three masts carrying square sails and one 
mast carrying the triangular lateen sail. 

The bowsprit was a crude affair but was highly important, 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SAILS AT 


which was the reason for its continued use despite the fact 
that even in ordinary weather in the open sea the pitching 
of the dumpy hulls often drove the spritsail into the waves. 
Perhaps this troublesome feature of the spritsail was partially 
reponsible, as the desire for more head sails certainly was, 
for the addition at the end of the bowsprit of a short, 
vertical spar on which a new sail called the “sprit topsail”’ 
was spread. In heavy weather this sail could be carried 
without plunging it into the sea long after the spritsail, 
which was spread on a spar mounted below the bowsprit, 
had to be taken in. 

And now the masts of these ships began to undergo an 
important change. Hitherto a mast was simply a long 
sturdy spar made of a single tree, with a single square sail 
mounted on a single yard. The desire for more canvas led 
at first to the setting of a triangular sail above the square 
sail. This new sail was set with its lower corners made 
fast to the extremities of the yard and with its apex at the 
apex of the mast. Soon, however, a short yard appeared 
at the top of this sail, which in the course of later develop- 
ments became more and more rectangular until finally it 
became the highly important topsail of the square-rigged 
ships of to-day. As still other sails were added this topsail 
became the sail that is carried for a greater part of the time 
than any other of the square sails, for in heavy weather it is 
the last to be taken in, and continues to hold its place long 
after its predecessor, the great square sail below it, has been 
furled. 

So successful was this topsail that ship-builders and 
sailors began to think of ways of making it larger. Its size 
was limited to the height of the mast above the great square 
mainsail. At first masts were cut from taller trees, but soon 
a practical limit to this method of securing additional height 
was reached, because of the limited size of trees. Then it 


48 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


was that the topmast was invented. Another mast, only 
slightly smaller than the first, was lashed with its base over- 
lapping the top of the mainmast, which, because the upper 
part was now of no use, was again shortened. This proved 
satisfactory, and later another section and another still was 
added until the mast had grown from one simple spar into a 
structure made up of three or four or even five rising one 
above the other until, in the greatest of all square-rigged 
ships—the Great Republic, built in 1853—the mainmast, 
surmounted by the topmast, the topgallant, the royal, and 
the skysailmasts, towered almost half as high above her keel 
as the summit of Washington Monument stands above its 
concrete base. But that was long years after the times we 
are discussing, and such a ship was far beyond even the 
imaginations of the shipwrights and sailors of 1500. 

Years before this time, as I have already explained, ships 
had developed raised structures at bow and stern, called 
forecastles and sterncastles, and by now these had become 
integral parts of the hull. But the hulls! It can be said 
with little fear of contradiction that they had become the 
most ridiculous ships, in appearance at least, that ever sailed 
the seas. Their sterns were built up and up into huge 
structures that contained many decks and many cabins. 
Forward these ships, more often than not, ran their ridiculous 
noses down until it sometimes seemed as if they were in- 
quisitive to learn what was beneath the surface of the 
water. Above these weird hulls were three or four towering 
masts, and forward was a long bowsprit that reared itself 
up at so steep an angle as to suggest that it feared that the 
bow, at the very next moment, would surely go completely 
beneath the sea. 

The mast farthest astern—which in a three-masted north- 
ern ship was then and still is called the mizzenmast—for 
many years carried only a lateen sail. Finally, however, the 


: THE DEVELOPMENT OF SAILS 49 


part of this triangular sail that ran forward of the mast was 
eliminated, although the spar itself was still the same. 

But finally this long spar was cut off where it met the mast, 
and it became the gaff of the sail that now is called, on 
‘square-rigged ships, the spanker. On this mast, too, above 
this lateen sail that, pollywog-like, was losing its tail in its 
growth into a spanker, it slowly became the custom to set 
‘sails similar to those which on the other masts had come into 
common use above the great square sails that were set near- 
est to the deck. 





i 
HY 
er 


— 


a) Ls 
ALCL 


= eS Ee ee 
———_. 
La 


— SSS 





THE AMARANTHE 
A British warship of 1654. This ship is an excellent example of the ships 
were in use just before the jib began to put in its appearance. The lateen 
_ Sail on the mizzenmast is similar to the one used on the caravels, but both the 


_Tigging and the hull are greatly refined as compared with the ships of the time 
- of Columbus. 


50 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


This growth, of course, was slow. The life of a single 
sailor was not enough to see the general acceptance of more 
than one or two of these steps, for seamen are conservative 
when it comes to changes in their ships, and are not given to 
the rapid acceptance of revolutionary improvements. But 
by comparison with the slow development of the preceding 
thousand years changes were coming with almost breathless 
speed. 

It was during this period that another important improve- 
ment was introduced. I have explained how, on cruder 
ships, it was the custom, when more sail area was needed, to 
lace a separate strip of cloth to the foot of the great square 
sail. This extra piece of sail was called the “bonnet” and 
sometimes another similar piece called the “drabbler” was 
laced to the foot of the bonnet. If the wind increased until 
less sail was desired these two extra sections of the sail were 
unlaced and the sail area was reduced by that much. In 
earlier times the sail was sometimes puckered up by passing 
lines over the spar and tying them so as to make the sail 
into a bundle more or less loosely tied, depending on how 
much or how little the sail area was to be reduced. But 
now came the introduction of ‘“‘reef points”’ which, down to 
the present day, are still the accepted method of reducing sail. 

Reef points are short pieces of rope passing through the 
sail. The ends are allowed to hang free on opposite sides 
of the canvas. On square sails there are two or three rows 
of these running across the upper part of the sail. When the 
captain orders sail reduced the men go into the rigging, lie 
out along the yard supporting the sail to be reefed and pulling 
the sail up until they reach the first row of reef points, pro- 
ceed to tie the two ends of the points together over the top 
of the sail. This ties a part of the sail into a small space, 
reducing by that much the area spread to the wind. 7 

This great improvement, together with the new arrange- 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SAILS 51 


ment of sails, began to make sailing ships into structures that, 
more or less, were reaching out toward the perfection that 
led ultimately to such speed and ease of handling as never 
before was thought possible. 

The topmasts, topgallantmasts, and others, too, by this 





is ea 
ZZ 
Hi =a 
a y 
e Ty 
my! WT) 
ae — 
SSS Ee 
7-5 SS ir — ? 
AEP. 
os, 


A 16TH-CENTURY DUTCH BOAT 
It was on boats of this type that the jib seems first to have been used. To- 
day in Holland one sees a similar boat, called a schuyt, which is almost 
identical with this, except that it utilizes a curved gaff at the top of the 
mainsail. 
time were no longer being lashed rigidly in place but were 
being arranged so that they could be partly lowered by 
sliding them lengthwise through their supports. 
All this time hulls were improving, and the ridiculous 
sterncastles finally reached their climax and began to recede. 
And then came a new development that gave the builder 


52 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


of ships the final thing they needed, so far as the sails them- 
selves were concerned, to make possible the ultimate per- 
fection of sailing ships. This was the adoption, in place of 
the awkward spritsails and sprit topsails, of the triangular 
‘“jibs”’ and staysails that are a conspicuous part of most 
modern sailing vessels. 

Perhaps this highly efficient triangular sail did not spring, 
Minerva-like, fully formed, from the head of any medieval 
ship-designer. It first appeared in use on small boats, and 
perhaps appeared there in triangular form because of the 
impracticability of mounting a bowsprit capable of carrying 
the common but awkward spritsail. Another reason, per- 
haps, for its triangular form, was the fact that the stay lead- 
ing from the bow to the masthead, while it lent itself to 
holding a sail, caused any such sail to be triangular in shape 
because of the angle at which the stay was stretched. 

Nor was a triangular sail in itself a change from the old 
order of things. For more than two thousand years the 
lateen sail had been in use, and a lateen sail is much the same 
shape as a jib or a staysail. Its principal difference lies in 
the fact that its direct support is a spar, while the support 
of a jib is a rope which serves also as a support for the mast. 
And so it is easy to imagine some old Dutch sailor—for the 
jib appeared first in Holland—rigging up a kind of makeshift 
sail on his fore stay, seeing that, because a lateen sail worked 
astern, another sail so similar in shape might work at the 
bow. Perhaps he was laughed at for his pains, for sailors 
are sensitive to appearances and a triangular sail at the bow 
of a boat in the early 16th Century was different from any- 
thing to which sailors were accustomed, and consequently, 
in their eyes, was, no doubt, ridiculous. But the “‘ridicu- 
lous” sail proved efficient, as sometimes happens in other 
things, and because of its efficiency and its simplicity it began 
to take its place as an accepted form. 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SAILS 53 


iA 
LA 
oat 


PAM || ant 
ZZ i i | coer 


A! it = wa un i 
hea Mat 





A CORVETTE OF 1780 


This ship shows the new sail plan overcoming the old. The masts carry 
topsails, topgallantsails, and reyals, and what was formerly a lateen sail 
on the mizzenmast has become a spanker. Furthermore, while the ship 
carries jibs, she has not yet parted with her spritsails. 


All this description of its origin is, of course, purely 
imaginary. I have no information as to how it originated, 
but I offer the explanation I have given as a plausible 
surmise. The earliest actual representation of a ship using 
this sail is, so far as I can learn, on a map sent in 1527 from 
Seville by one M. Robert Thorne to a Doctor Ley. On this 
map, like so many of its time, there are numerous decorations 
and pictures. One of these is a small craft, Dutch in ap- 
pearance, which carries a combination of sails not unlike 
those of a simple sloop of to-day. It is somewhat as if a 
lateen sail had been cut in two vertically a third of the 
way back from the forward end, and the two pieces mounted 
separately—the triangular section depending from the fore 


o4 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


stay, and the remainder from a spar similar to what we now 
call the gaff. This interesting old map was called to my 
attention by a mention of it made by E. Keble Chatterton 
in his “Sailing Ships and Their Story.” 

But this triangular sail, while it was in common use from 
so early a date on small boats, did not appear on ships of the 
larger sizes until the latter part of the 17th Century and the 
first part of the 18th. At this time the lateen sail was still 
in evidence although it was beginning to undergo the first 
of the changes I have mentioned, while the fore and main- 
masts now commonly spread two square sails, and sometimes 
three; and sometimes, too, this third sail, instead of being 
square, was triangular, as the earliest topsails had been. 

But the latter part of the 17th Century brought the first 
real steps in scientific design. Men began to study the 
disturbances set up by the passage through the water of 
various shaped hulls, and began to replace rule-of-thumb 
methods of design with designs based on more or less scienti- 
fic conclusions. This also began to show itself in the design 
of masts and spars and sails. Long since, the steering oar, 
which for centuries was mounted on the starboard or right- 
hand side of the ship near the stern, had given way to the 
rudder, hung astern as rudders are still hung, and now the 
science of ship design began the steps that ultimately resulted 
in the Flying Cloud and the Great Republic and those other 
clipper ships that in the 19th Century set records for speed 
that many of our steamships of to-day cannot equal. 

Throughout the 18th Century ships were gradually 
improved along these scientific lines until, in the merchant 
service, the beautiful ships of the British East India Com- 
pany, with their piles of snowy canvas, their shining teak- 
wood rails, and their graceful spars, were the proudest ships 
that had ever sailed the seas. In the naval services the 
greater ships had taken a less beautiful form but had grown 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SAILS 59 


into the impressive if awkward line-of-battle ships of 
which an excellent example is still to be seen in the Victory, 
Nelson’s famous flagship, which the British still proudly, 
and properly, maintain at Portsmouth. 

But now begins the super-perfection of sailing ships— 
the development of the clippers, those beautiful structures 
of wood and iron and canvas that for a brief time so surpassed 
every other ship on every sea as to set them apart in an era of 
their own. ‘These were ships of such beauty and speed and 
spirit that they stand clearly separate and alone. 


CHAPTER III 
THE PERFECTION OF SAILS—THE CLIPPER SHIPS 


ji THE 17th Century a new people began to make their 

mark in the world of the sea. Formerly the development 
of ships had been almost exclusively, at least for two thou- 
sand years, in the hands of Europeans—the Mediterranean 
peoples first, and later, the peoples of northern Europe. 

One of the important reasons for the north European 
interest in ships had come about as a result of the discovery 
of the New World and, with that, the discovery that the 
world was actually round. That dynamic age now often 
called the age of discovery opened up new lands that lent 
themselves to colonization, and because Europe was filled 
with energy and was in a proper fraine of mind to take ad- 
vantage of the opportunity, important colonies sprang up 
in the Americas, in the Pacific, and in Africa. 

From the point of view, however, of influences on the 
development of ships these colonies, in themselves, had, 
with one exception, little effect. This one exception was the 
row of British colonies that lined the Atlantic Coast of 
North America from the Bay of Fundy to Florida. Here 
there began to grow up a people whose forebears had known 
the boisterous seas of northern Europe, and who were scat- 
tered along a narrow coastline where they found ready and 
at hand the best timber in the world from which to build 
ships. Furthermore, the fisheries of this coast were rich, 
and, too, traffic between these colonies soon sprang up and 
demanded ships to carry it, for roads were either bad or were 
non-existent and the great boulevard of the sea lay outside 

56 


THE CLIPPER SHIPS 57 


the entrances to the numerous fine harbours that indented 
the coast. 

At first, naturally enough, the ships that were built were 
small, but by the beginning of the 18th Century the business 
of building ships was an important one, particularly in New 





A BRITISH EAST INDIAMAN 


These merchant ships, which sailed from England to the Far East, 
were almost as much like warships as they were like merchantmen. They 
were finely built, but they took their time on their voyages out and back. 


England. So important was it, and so well and so cheaply were 
ships built in this new part of the world, that Europeans 
found it to their interest to buy ships from the many yards 
that dotted this coast. This business continued to increase 
in the American colonies until, in 1769, according to Arthur 
H. Clark, in “The Clipper Ship Era,” 389 vessels, of which 
113 were square-rigged, were built. All of these, it is true, 
were small, none of them being over 200 tons, but the busi- 


58 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


ness was flourishing and valuable experience that later proved 
of great importance was being secured. 

During this same time “‘ The United Company of Merchant 
Venturers of England Trading to the East Indies,” or, as 
it was later generally called, the East India Company, was 
gradually developing, for the long voyages from England 
to the East, those magnificent ships that now are universally 
referred to as East Indiamen. 

So lucrative was the trade that these ships were engaged 
in, for it was a carefully controlled and legalized monopoly, 
that truly great amounts of money were made for the 
stockholders of the company and for the officers of the 
ships. And because the trade was exceptionally profitable 
these ships were wonderfully built and cost sums that, for 
those days, were huge. The ships, because they were navi- 
gating waters frequented by pirates and might be called 
upon to fight their way both out and back, were almost 
ships of war, and the discipline on board was more like the 
discipline of ships of the British Navy than like that of 
ordinary merchant ships. The crews were spick and span 
in neat uniforms. ‘The men were drilled as carefully as 
man-of-war’s-men, and the crews were large, and conse- 
quently their work was not hard. 

The ships themselves were built in the finest possible 
manner, and the cost of one 1,325-ton ship built for this 
service is said to have been more than a quarter of a million 
-dollars—£53,000 to be exact—a sum truly huge for those 
days, and one not exactly to be sneezed at to-day. 

This great company, with its monopoly that sometimes 
made it possible for a ship to earn 300 per cent. on her entire 
cost in a single round trip from England to India or China, 
was organized in 1600. The fact, however, that there was 
no competition for them to face resulted in a conservative 
outlook that made for slowness rather than for speed, and 


THE CLIPPER SHIPS 59 


little actual advance in the science of design of either hulls 
or sails came as a result of the building of these costly and 
sturdy ships. 

For two and a third centuries, however, this grand old 
company continued, and during that time many a fortune 
was built up for the investors, but finally the people of 
Britain rebelled at this monopoly, and Parliament, in 1832, 
withdrew the charter and threw open the trade to the East 
to other British lines. 

But the conservatism of the sea is strong, and, while other 
lines took advantage of the opportunity to send their ships 












LA ey \ Es 
ZBI a me 2 TE 


Me 


Pf 





a | 
=lty 
=\s% 
4 zit 


bY 
BARA tes MSS 








SS SS - 
ie 
x ge Pin ee 
See —==————"" 
= - = 
= SS = =. SS 
> == =S<_ esas 
_ >= a —— 
S= SS — 
a ee tee ——— =—— <a 
S>———— 5 
a 2 SS. 


A BLACK BALL PACKET 


Ships of this type carried the transaltantic passengers of the early part 
of the 19th Century. Because of the demand of the owners of the Black 
Ball Line and of its competitors, America, where these lines were owned 
and where their ships were built, developed the designers who ultimately 
gave the world the clipper ships. 


60 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


to the East they patterned them more or less after the ships 
of ‘the East India Company, and little effort was made to 
secure speed. 

But later, in 1849, the Navigation Laws which limited 
trade between Great Britain and her colonies to British 
ships, were repealed, and foreign carriers were, for the first 
time, permitted to enter this lucrative field. 

This was the end of one act and the beginning of another, 
for the repeal of these laws gave the opportunity it needed 
to that new country, now a nation, that for two hundred 
years had been teaching itself to build ships of the trees 
from the rocky soil of New England. 

But a little more is needed to understand just why the 
ship-builders of the United States of America were in a 
position to leap so suddenly into prominence among the 
carriers of ocean freight. 

For two hundred years, as I have said, Americans had 
been building ships, and in that time the industry had had 
its ups and downs. British legislation, in colonial days, 
had had its adverse effect. The Revolutionary War, and, 
later, the War of 1812, had dealt disastrous blows atAmeri- 
can shipowners, but these people were of seagoing stock, and 
each time they recovered. Then, after the War of 1812, 
and particularly after the long Napoleonic struggle was 
brought to an end in 1815, trade between the new American 
nation and Europe, and particularly between America and 
Britain, developed by leaps and bounds. 

International commerce grew as it had never grown before, 
and, shortly, lines of “‘packets’—that is, passenger ships — 
running regularly between two ports—went into service be- 
tween Britain and America. 

The Black Ball Line was the first of these. Its ships were 
distinguished by a large black circle on the foretopsail below 
the close reef-band, where it would be visible as long as the 


THE CLIPPER SHIPS 61 





A WHALING BARK 


With a lookout at the masthead these ships cruised all over the earth in the first 
half of the 19th Century. 


ship carried even a shred of sail. The earlier ships of this 
line were from three hundred to five hundred tons, and before 
long more than a dozen were in service. They sailed regu- 
larly and for the first ten years of the line’s existence aver- 
aged, according to Arthur H. Clark, twenty-three days for 
the voyage east, and forty days for the return, the dis- 
crepancy between these two being due to the prevailing 
winds of the North Atlantic which, on the route these ships 
sailed, are from the southwest. The Gulf Stream, too, or 
rather the continuation of the Gulf Stream, sometimes 
known as the Gulf Stream Drift, aided them on their east- 
ward voyages. | 

During the thirty years following the founding of the Black 


62 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


Ball Line a number of other similar lines were founded, nota- 
bly the Red Star Line, the Dramatic Line, and the New 
Orleans Line from New York. All of these, and others, 
were American owned, and with the opening of the Erie 
Canal, which gave access to the Great Lakes, and opened 
a vast new land, trade greatly increased. 

These ships were not large at first, but gradually they 


increased in size until, in 1849, the Albert Gallatin, of 1,435. 


tons, became the largest of the lot, although a number of 
others approached her in size. 

These ships were in a new kind of service. Before the 
origin of the Black Ball Line there had been few passenger 
ships. More often than not ships had accommodations 
for passengers, as the East Indiamen had, but ships had 
seldom, prior to the opening of the 19th Century, devoted 
much space to passengers. Ina later chapter I shall discuss 
the reasons for this. But once ships began to carry passen- 
gers to the practical exclusion of freight, speed became desira- 
ble, and the North Atlantic packets were designed more and 
more with speed in mind. ‘This resulted in a demand for 
really scientific naval architects and because Americans 
were the ones chiefly interested in building faster ships, and 
because, too, the packet lines could afford to pay for their 
services, able men turned their attention to this important 
problem. 

Thus it was that, between 1816 and 1849, a demand on 
the part of the American packet lines for faster ships pro- 
duced in America a group of designers who evolved a type 
of sailing ship that the world has never seen surpassed for 
speed on the wide stretches of the open sea. And thus it 
was, too, that with the repeal of the Navigation Laws in 
England, America was able to put into service between 
Britain and the Far East such ships as made conservative 
British seamen gasp for breath ere they, too, set about follow- 


5 ft 


THE CLIPPER SHIPS 63 


ing, with eminent success, in the footsteps of their trans- 
atlantic brothers. Then, instantly, the gigantic rush of 
gold hunters to California gave added impetus to the demand 
for faster ships, and almost overnight the era of the clipper 
ship had begun. 

According to Arthur H. Clark’s ‘The Clipper Ship Era,”’ 


x4 
4 
<_ AA 


Lao 
th) 









ii 


THE RED JACKET 


The clipper ship that made the fastest trip across the Atlantic ever 
made under sail. Her record from Sandy Hook to Rock Light was thir- 
teen days, one hour. 


which contains a complete and fascinating account of this 
whole period (and it is actually a story for a book rather 
than for a mere chapter into which it is impossible adequately 
to compress it), the first clipper ship ever built was the Ann 
Mckim, a ship built at Baltimore in 1832. 

During the War of 1812 a number of Chesapeake Bay ships 
which came to be called ‘‘ Baltimore clippers’”’ proved very 
successful as privateers. ‘These ships were fast, and prob- 
ably the name “‘clipper’’ had some connotation at the time 


64 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


suggesting speed. But these “Baltimore clippers” were 
not, as the word was later used, clipper ships in the true 
sense. The Ann McKim, as I have said, was actually the 
first of these. 

This ship was an enlargement to scale of one of the small, 
fast sailing vessels which two hundred years of ship-building 
experience had taught American shipwrights to construct. 
The Ann McKim, then, was a small sailing ship built by 
the foot, so to speak, while her smaller counterparts had 
been built by the inch. Her proportions were identical to 
those of the small fry that skimmed about Chesapeake Bay. 
Only in size and in the elaborateness of her finish did she 
differ. 

Before the advent of the Ann McKim, no one seems to 
have thought of building a ship of her size—she was 143 
feet long—on any lines but those which for so long had been 
accepted as proper for a ship, and they were far different 
from the lines accepted for small boats. But despite her 
originality the Ann McKim proved to be fast. 

It seems to be true that this ship did not directly affect 
ship design. But in the next nine years a number of fast 
ships appeared, and then John W. Griffiths, a young naval 
architect of New York, in a series of lectures on the subject 
of ship design, laid down the basic rules that brought into 
being those beautiful ships—of which there were never more 
than a handful, by comparison with the other ships of 
the world—that suddenly leaped into world-wide promi- 
nence. 

To the uninitiated, the changes proposed by Griffiths 
seem unimportant and perhaps uninteresting, for it resulted 
only in sharper bows and finer lines, in the movement, 
farther toward the stern, of the ship’s greatest beam, and 
of “hollow” water lines—that is, the curve of the hull aft 
from the bow along the water line was concave before it 


THE CLIPPER SHIPS 65 


became convex, as it long had been for its whole length on 
other ships. 

The first ship to be built along these new lines, and there- 
fore the first clipper ship of the new order of things, was the 
Rainbow, which was launched in 1845. It is interesting, too, 
to note that, while she was lost—perhaps off Cape Horn— 
on her fifth voyage, few of the later clippers ever broke the 
records she set. Griffiths, with the touch of genius that he 
had, had instantly approached such perfection as mortal 
man can reach. 

And unlike the Ann McKim, the Rainbow did affect ship 
design. It is true that critics announced that these new 
ships would capsize from the very weight of their spars. 
that they could not stand up in a boisterous sea, that they 





THE GREAT REPUBLIC 


The greatest clipper ship ever built. Unfortunately, before she 
made her first voyage she caught fire and had to be sunk. She was 
refloated and refitted, but never made a voyage in her original rig. 
When new masts were put in her they were made smaller than the first 
ones. Still she turned out to be one of the very fastest of the clippers. 


66 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 
i 


were freakish and ridiculous. But still they were built, 
and there were races out to China and back again; and some- 
times they brought to New York the news of their own 
arrivals at Canton or Shanghai. 

So quickly had Griffiths’s ideas of ship design taken hold 
that in the four years from the launch of the Rainbow until 
1849—when the repeal of the Navigation Laws permitted 
foreign ships to compete for business between Britain and 
her colonies and the rush to California opened up another 
profitable field—a number of these new clipper ships were 
making regular voyages. 

The story of the first American clipper ship to carry a 
cargo of tea to Britain from China is an interesting one, and 
I can do no better than quote directly from Mr. Clark’s 
account of the voyage in “The Clipper Ship Era.” 

“The Oriental,” says Mr. Clark, “sailed on her second 
voyage from New York for China, May 19, 1850 
and was 25 days to the equator; she passed the meridian 
of the Cape of Good Hope 45 days out, Java Head 71 days 
out, and arrived at Hong-kong, August 8th, 81 days from 
New York. She was at once chartered through Russel & 
Co. to load a cargo of tea from London at £6 per ton of 40 
cubic feet, while British ships were waiting for cargoes for 
London at £3:10 per ton of 50 cubic feet. She sailed August 
28th, and beat down the China Sea against a strong south- 
west monsoon in 21 days to Anjer, arrived off the Lizard in 
91 days, and was moored in the West India Docks, London, 
97 days from Hong-kong—a passage from China never before 
equalled in point of speed, especially against the southwest 
monsoon, and rarely surpassed since. She delivered 1,600 
tons of tea, and her freight from Hong-kong amounted to 
£9,600 or some $48,000. Her first cost ready for sea was 
$70,000. From the date of her first sailing from New York, 
September 14, 1849, to her arrival at London, December 


THE CLIPPER SHIPS 67 





THE ARIEL, 1866 


Which, with the Fiery Cross, Taeping, Serica, and Taitsing, sailed what 
was, perhaps, the greatest race ever run. After sailing 16,000 miles from 
Foo-Chow, China, to London, the Ariel, Taeping, and Serica docked in 
London on the same tide, the Taeping the winner by only a few minutes. 
The other two were only two days behind, although the first three took 99 days. 


3, 1850, the Oriental had sailed a distance of 67,000 miles, 
and had, during that time, been at sea 367 days, an average 
in all weathers of 183 miles per day.” 

Such performances were not rare for these ships, and be- 
cause they were the rule, rather than the exception, the rep- 
utation of clippers grew apace, and interest rapidly grew in 
their comparative speed. Thus it was that many races were 
sailed, half around the world, during which every stitch of 
canvas possible was carried for every mile of the way, and 
‘captains studied winds and currents with such care and suc- 
cess that well-matched ships were often in sight of each 
other off and on during voyages of thousands of miles. 

The development of the clipper ship was rapid, and her 
decline was almost equally fast. Eight years after the 


68 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


Rainbow took the water Donald McKay, an able designer 
and builder, launched the Great Republic, one of the very 
largest sailing ships ever built. While this ship has been 
surpassed in size by several later sailing ships, no other ship 
ever built was designed to carry so enormous a press of sail. 

The mainmast of this great vessel was a huge “stick” 
131 feet long and 44 inches in diameter. Above this were 
the topmast, 76 feet long; the topgallantmast, 28 feet long; 
the royalmast, 22 feet long; and the skysailmast, 19 feet 
long. All of this was topped by a 12-foot pole. The great 
structure of the built-up mainmast towered more than 200 
feet above her deck. 

But this greatest of all sailing ships was destined never 
to take a voyage with these gigantic masts and spars. Just 
after she had finished loading in New York for her first voy- 
age, a warehouse fire ashore dropped embers in her rigging 
and she was so badly burned that she was sunk in order to 
save what was left. Her beautiful masts had had to be cut 
out of her during the fire, and when she was finally raised 
and rebuilt freight rates had fallen so far that it was not 
thought best to re-rig her in her original dress. A reduced 
rig was installed, making possible a great reduction in the 
size of her crew, but even with her reduced rig she crossed 
the Atlantic from Sandy Hook to Land’s End in 13 days. 

Until the Civil War broke into the peaceful development 
of America, clipper ships were built in many yards, although 
the introduction of iron as a ship-building material was giving 
Britain the upper hand again, after the Americans had tem- 
porarily wrested it from her. This introduction of iron in 
itself would have caused the elimination of America from 
mid-19th Century ship-building, but the Civil War laid a 
heavy hand on the young country, and American ships 
largely disappeared from the sea, save along the Confederate 
coast where great fleets lay in wait for fast blockade runners 


THE CLIPPER SHIPS 69 


that slipped out to Bermuda and the Bahamas for cargoes 

_ of European goods to take through the blockade to the needy 

- South. 

_ England, however, had once more found herself, and soon 
her yards were building clipper ships that equalled the 













Ne 
oo i IS jj, ep 
7 Wess “iN |e 
—/ VS 
) if } Vi 
UNE 
S Z V/s 
SSS tte /\f ou 
= = = = = = Pree | an =< 
_ ss SS SSE Se ra — a 


A GLOUCESTER FISHERMAN 


Such schooners as this are common in the New England fishing fleets. 
They are seaworthy and fast, and probably the men who sail them are the 
greatest seamen of our time. 


Americans—surpassed them, some say, but more than one 
challenge for an ocean race was issued by groups of Americans 
only to find no takers in British shipping circles. Now 
and then, it is true, British ships outsailed American. 
But now and then, too, Americans outsailed their trans- 
atlantic brothers, so it is difficult to decide as to their relative 
merits. | 
But there is no doubt of one thing—the greatest ocean 


70 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


race ever sailed was one in which five British tea clippers 
were engaged. The Ariel, Taeping, Fiery Cross, Taitsing, 
and Serica sailed from Foo-chow, China, within two days 
of each other, on the 29th, 30th, and 31st of May, 1865, all 
bound for London. Forty-six days later the Fiery Cross 
rounded the Cape of Good Hope, followed by the Ariel, 
which also made that meridian in forty-six days; the Taeping 
in forty-seven days; the Serica in fifty days; and the Taitsing 
in fifty-four days. Through June and July they sailed, and 
on August 9th the Fiery Cross and Taeping sighted each 
other. The ships passed the Azores in the following order, 
Ariel, Taitsing, Fiery Cross, Serica, and Taeping, all closely 
grouped. From there to the English Channel the race 
continued, with each ship unacquainted with the position 
of the others, save occasionally when their courses brought 
them together. Yet on the morning of September 5th, 
two of these ships sighted each other as they entered the 
English Channel. As they came closer together each rec- 
ognized the other—they were the Ariel and the Taeping, 
which had left Foo-chow within twenty minutes of each other 
more than three months before. Up the Channel they raced, 
side by side, and on September 6th, these two ships, and the 
Serica, which had sailed up the Channel four hours behind 
them, docked in London on the same tide and all three of 
them within an hour and forty-five minutes of each other, the 
Taeping the winner by a few trifling minutes. Nor were 
they far ahead of the other two, which docked on the 7th 
and 9th. Three ships had sailed 16,000 miles in 99 days, 
and the other two in 101. Never before or since has a long 
ocean race shown such evenly matched ships. 

But the days of the clipper ships were numbered. Steam 
was already making inroads, and when the Suez Canal was 
opened in 1869, steamships could make the voyage to the 
Kast through the narrow waters of the Mediterranean and 


THE CLIPPER SHIPS 71 


the Red Sea, where sailing ships were impotent to follow, 
in much less time than even the clippers could round Cape 
Horn. And so there passed from the sea what were probably 
the most beautiful of all the ships that ever sailed its dark 
blue surface. Yachts there may be whose fragile lines are 
just a bit more delicate, whose sails are bleached more white. 
But such comparison is odious. It is as if Du Barry were 
compared with Juno. Now and again a watchful eye may 
still see a square-rigged ship being impudently towed about 
some teeming harbour by some officious tug, and occasionally 
a fortunate voyager may see one with her sails set as she 
harnesses the wind to take her half across the world. But 
the romantic days of sail have gone. The voyages from 





AN AMERICAN COASTING SCHOONER 


Square-rigged ships have largely disappeared because, among other things, 
their crews were large. These schooners, which sometimes have four or five 
masts, can be handled by small crews and consequently are able to continue to 
vie with steam. 


72 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


London to China around Good Hope, from New York to 
San Francisco around the Horn—they are things long past. 
Steam and a ditch through the sandhills of Suez did it. 
And now another ditch through the hills of Panama has 
double-locked the door, and sail is gone. 

But hold! Sail is nearly gone, and yet it is here! 

No more do fleets of monster ships with towering masts 
spread square sail after square sail to the honest winds of 
heaven. They, it is true, have almost disappeared, and 
what is left is not to be compared with what is gone. Yet 
in these days of steam and coal, of grimy stokers and ma- 
chines called ships, there still remains, to gladden the eye of 
the white-haired men who sailed the clipper ships a half a 
century and more ago, a type of sailing ship that has proved 
to be so handy, so capable and efficient, that all the machines 
of a machine-mad world have not been able to drive them 
from the sea. 

These are the schooners and the other craft whose sails, 
based on those old Dutch vessels that first used the jib, 
are of a different design. 

The clipper ships and their predecessors were “‘square- 
rigged’ ships. A schooner is a “‘fore-and-aft”’ rigged ship, 
and to-day the “‘fore-and-aft”’ rig is the only rig in common 
use. 

It will have been seen, from this account, that the de- 
velopment of sails was slow. Century followed century and 
ships progressed but little. Even the most rapid period of 
development covered the four centuries, from 1450 to 1850, 
so that, while fore-and-aft sails have reached their present 
stage more rapidly than square-rigged ships, still the story 
is one that covers centuries. 

I have already told of the origin in Holland of the jib, 
which seemed to grow out of the lateen sail. It was from 
that beginning that the “‘fore-and-aft”’ rig developed. 


THE CLIPPER SHIPS 73 


The narrow waterways of the low countries demanded 
a type of sail that could be handled more easily and could sail 
closer to the wind than the square sail could. This the 
fore-and-aft sail did, and so it filled an important 
need. Ihave not the space, in what remains of this chapter, 
to trace its growth in all its detail. Furthermore, E. Keble 
Chatterton has done so admirably in “The Story of the 
Fore-and-Aft Rig.” 

Let it suffice to say that the growth has been more a per- 
fection than a series of revolutionary changes. At first 
the rig was crude. The sails were laced to the masts, for 
hoops sliding on the mast and to which the sail is made fast, 
while now almost universal, were then unknown. <A boom 
was used to spread the foot of the sail, but not until the 
famous yacht America crossed the Atlantic and won the 
cup that still is held in America as the greatest racing trophy 
in the world was the foot of the sail laced to the boom. 

Many times I have sat at the wheel of the America as she 
lies in the basin of the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, 
her masts denuded of the pile of canvas that drove her to 
that famous victory, and thought of her and of the little 
group of men whose careful thought resulted in her triumph. 
Such men as those, in the thousands of years through which 
ships have grown, have been the men who have made possible 
the growth of the dugout canoe with its sail of skin into the 
Great Republics and the Americas and, later, the Majestics. 
Such men as those have aided greatly in the advance of 
civilization. | 

I have space here for but one more thing. The Dutch, 
as I have said, were responsible for the origin of the fore-and- 
aft rig, and Europeans largely developed the yawl, the ketch, 
_ the brig, and several other forms that use fore-and-aft sails. 
But schooners are the most numerous of these and they 

originated, as their name did, in a New England shipyard. 


74 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


The story is an old one and well known, but I shall include 
it here, for it is the only case of which I know in which a new 
ship form together with its name appeared so abruptly. 

It was in Gloucester, Massachusetts, that port now famous 
for the ablest schooners that sail the seas, that the schooner 
originated. In 1713 an ingenious builder built a boat and 
placed in her two masts bearing fore-and-aft sails. For a 
head sail he spread that triangular canvas now so common, 
but this was the first time that these sails, all long familiar, 
had been arranged according to the now common plan. 

She left the stocks and floated lightly on the water, and 
an interested spectator cried, “‘Look! She how she scoons!” 

The owner must have been a man of wit as well as original- 
ity for he replied: “Very well. A scooner let her be.” 
And schooner she still is, but in the two centuries since that 
time her form has impressed itself on many thousand ships, 
and the port that gave her birth has gained a reputation 
that is world-wide as the port of the ablest schooners and 
the ablest sailors that ever graced the great expanse of ocean. 


CHAPTER IV 
THE DEVELOPMENT OF STEAMSHIPS 


aN the day a really successful steam-driven vessel 
first moved herself awkwardly in the water until the 
Majestic slid from her German ways was not much more 
than a hundred years. But that hundred years shows more 
of progress in the development of ships than the preceding 
thousand. So breathlessly rapid has been the development 
of steamships that there are men still alive who remember 
them as frail experimental craft upon which little dependence 
could be placed. ‘“‘Sail,”’ said the citizen of a hundred 
years ago, “is a dependable mode of propulsion. Steam is a 
ridiculous power, or at best a dangerous and highly ex- 
perimental one.” 

“Steam,” says the “landlubber”’ of to-day, “‘is satis- 
factory for me. Sailing is a foolhardy business.” 

And neither the century-old viewpoint nor the new one 
is entirely right. 


Steam was vaguely recognized as a source of power even 
in early Egyptian history, and several times before the birth 
of Watt inconsequential experiments were made with it. 

There is a story, not now accepted as true, of one Blasco de 
Garay, who in 1543 experimented at Barcelona, Spain, 
with a boat propelled by steam. It was not for another 100 
years, however, that steam was practically applied. But 
_as early as 1690 it is known that Thomas Savery and Denis 
Papin proposed the use of steam as an aid to navigation. 
Papin even built a model boat in which a crude steam engine 
| 75 


76 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


was installed. A man named Newcomen seems to have been 
the builder of the engines used in these and other early 
experiments. One engine built by this experimenter was 
used in 1736 in a boat built by Jonathan Hulls in England. 

That great American, Benjamin Franklin, whose genius 
touched such a diversity of subjects, saw, as early as 1775, 
that paddle-wheels were inefficient machines, and called 
attention to the fact, suggesting that an engine be devised 
to draw a column of water in at the bow, to project it forcibly 
astern in order to give the ship headway. This method was 
tried but before much success had been attained, all engines 
being of such low power, the screw propeller had been per- 
fected and the water-jetsystem was dropped, although in 1782 
James Rumsey built a boat of this type on the Potomac. 
In France a steamboat built by the Marquis de Jouffroy 
is said to have been operated in 1783. This boat was 150 
feet long and ran with some degree of success for about a 
year and a half. Jouffroy has sometimes been given credit 
for the invention of the steamboat. In 1788 a small vessel 
of strange design was driven at four or five miles an hour 
by William Symington in Scotland. This boat was built 
at the expense of a Scotch banker named Patrick Miller. 
Two years before this John Fitch, a New Englander, built 
a fairly successful steamboat that was propelled by steam- 
driven oars. Symington’s experiments were continued and 
another boat that made seven miles an hour was running in 
1789. Still more successful was another of Symington’s 
boats, the Charlotte Dundas, when, in 1802, she towed two 
loaded vessels, totalling nearly one hundred and fifty tons 
at three and one-half miles an hour for a score of miles in the 
Forth and Clyde Canal. The project was abandoned, 
however, because of the effect of the agitated water on the 
banks of the canal. The Dundas was, of course, driven by 
a paddle-wheel. Symington continued his efforts but was 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF STEAMSHIPS = 77 






| a a 
| Ae - 
| | 4 seen) eee ice 
a5 tine mp MVOC RY 1 * ae 
. » | 
' 2 


+ lat Seanad exam 
aA st TN ae oT 
a Sih Ne 


LA ee 


THE CHARLOTTE DUNDAS 


Before the Clermont was built, this boat had operated successfully on 
the Forth and Clyde Canal in Scotland. The objection to her was that she 
stirred the water up so that she injured the banks of the canal. 


unfortunately handicapped financially, and when Lord 
Bridgewater, his next backer, died, he withdrew from the 
field, reduced to poverty. 

But all of these were merely preparatory to the first steam- 
boat that is to be accepted as a thoroughly practical affair. 
In 1807, after several years of travel in Europe where he 
inspected all the steam engines of which he could learn, and 
where he experimented with a steamboat of his own design 
on the Seine, Robert Fulton built the Clermont in New York. 
Her engine, or at least the major part of it, was built in 
England and shipped to New York where it was installed 
In the first definitely successful steamboat ever built. The 
Clermont was 133 feet long and 18 feet wide, and made the 
run from New York to Albany, a distance of about one hun- 
dred and fifty miles, in thirty-two hours. 


78 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


But the Clermont had a greater task in the breaking down 
of prejudice than ever she had in propelling herself through 
the smooth waters of the Hudson on her round et between 
New York and Albany. 

The first steamer to make an ocean voyage was a boat 
named the Pheniz, built in 1809. She was driven under her 
own power from Hoboken, New Jersey, on the Hudson 
River, opposite New York City, to Philadelphia. 

So rapid was the increase in the number of steamboats 
that by 1814 a contributor to the columns of the Gentlemen’s 
Magazine wrote that “‘most of the principal rivers in North 
America are navigated by steamboats. One of them passes 
2,000 miles on the great river Mississippi in twenty-one days, 
at the rate of five miles an hour against the descending 
current,’’ which, if true, tells a dramatic story of the rapid 
development of this new apparatus. 

During the next decade a number of boats and small 
ships were built, in the hulls of which steam engines were 
placed, and on the masts of which the ever-present sails 
were spread to guard against what were, evidently, the 
inevitable breakdowns. But another step in the develop- 
ment of steamships was to be made. Up to 1818 steam- 
driven ships had been used only on inland or on coastal 
waters. But in that year a 380-ton full-rigged ship was 
built in New York City and was equipped with paddle- 
wheels operated by a steam engine of seventy-two horse 
power. (Some say this engine developed ninety horse 
power but the measurement of the power of engines was 
then at best an inaccurate science.) 

After a number of trials, this ship, which was named the 
Savannah, crossed the Atlantic in 1819 taking twenty-five 
days from Savannah, Georgia, to Liverpool. The passage 
attracted much attention, even though the ship had been 
under power for only a part of the time. This did not 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF STEAMSHIPS — 79 


prove, however, that her engines were not capable of more 
extended operation. They were stopped for the excellent 
reason that the fuel ran out. While this voyage created 
widespread interest it also suggested to the wits of the day 
the necessity for a fleet of sailing ships to accompany the 
steamers of the future in order to keep them supplied with 
fuel. 

Later, when the Savannah returned to America, her en- 
gines were removed, but she had served a useful turn, and 
she is accepted as the first steam-driven ship to cross the 
Atlantic. 

With this mark to shoot at, the progress of steamships 
became more rapid, although for sixty years most of them 
that were intended for deep-sea work carried masts and 
spars from which sails could be spread. 


EWS a lee 
‘ 


fo 


ri 


| 















ZI 








ROBERT FULTON’S CLERMONT 


The first completely successful steamboat ever built. Others built before the 
lermont were made to go, but this ship carried passengers for years. 


30 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


Confidence in steam grew slowly, and with reason, for the 
engines were anything but reliable, safety appliances were 
unknown or inadequately understood, and steam-driven 
vessels often broke down, or worse still, blew up. So com- 
mon was this latter happening that an advertisement that 
appeared in an American paper enlarged upon it. The 
notice went on to say that there had been much talk about 
the explosions that had taken place on the vessel that was 
being advertised but that that was no cause for alarm for 
‘not a passenger has been injured.” 

The engines were single-cylinder affairs, with their parts, 
more often than not, improperly designed and imperfectly 
machined. Good lubricants were unknown and proper 
lubrication was almost impossible, with the result that 
parts wore out and shrieked dismally at their treatment. 
The boilers were crudely made of iron, riveted together by 
hand, so that leaking seams were, apparently, the rule, 
when any pressure was generated. Pressure gauges were 
long in coming and the safety valves worked so imper- 
fectly that the engineer’s first notice of any excess pressure 
was often the bursting of a steam pipe, the further widening 
of a leaking seam, or, worse still, the sudden, and sometimes 
tragic, eruption of the whole boiler. 

Then, too, another trouble affected the boilers. They 
were, more often than not, unprotected from the weather, 
and, their design being of the simplest, it was difficult, when 
the temperature was low, to get up enough pressure to 
operate the crude engines. They burned wood, at first, 
and ate cords of it, so that frequent stops were necessary 
in order to secure more fuel. There were no condensers, 
and so steamboats that sailed on salt water often ran out of 
fresh water for their boilers. Furthermore, good insulation 
had not been developed, and occasionally, when the perverse 
machines seemed ideally happy. when the cylinder energeti- 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF STEAMSHIPS 81 


eally turned the awkward paddle-wheels with a will, to the 
tune of creaking bearings, clanking joints, and hissing steam, 
the whole vessel was thrown into a furor, the engine was 
stopped, the passengers and crew were forced to turn to in an 
effort to save the ship from some fire or other, started by a 
red-hot fire box, or a burning ember from the funnel. 




























} acre Toney 
AAG b winy y AI) 
iy al ate li 
BONN) 7 
ANI), 

.-— Ep til t all Magne 
ae igs Pe meg ZZ SN 
ee Gy | 5s 
apa i F _—Al 

— Se eb ae is — 

— > _- “ee —— { Es = 
Ss Ss aa oS ES = SSS 8353 z oS 

— = KZ pi — ; 3 = Fe 

SS Se  , e e* pee gr 

Sse => sae 4 a LSS. set DS vis iia 

—=—* oem ee i =F Ss Rs ee ee, vA Ne BA ces 
ESF SOOTY ees ial ya) py ase 
~ a = ey ae. my: 

= == = 5 ae 
. a Ss ree ae ieee 
_ A ~ eR. 
=— 


THE SAVANNAH 
The first steamship to cross the Atlantic. 


_ Such were the difficulties that the pioneer steamboat-men 
had to face, and it speaks well for their patience and nerve 
that they hung on until improvement after improvement 
turned those dangerous and imperfect machines of theirs 
into the safe and almost flawless examples of mechanical 
artistry that now propel so many thousands of hulls in every 
part of the world. | 

In 1820 the General Steam Navigation Company was 
formed in England, and this, the first steamship company, 
nay be considered, properly enough, a highly important in- 


82 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


fluence in the development of steamships, for the merchant 
ships of the world are almost exclusively in the hands of 
lines of greater or lesser strength, and it is these lines that 
make possible the building and operation, and consequently 
the perfection, of such vessels. 

In the next few years a number of steamships were built 
in America, in Great Britain, and on the continent, and in 
1825 a 470-ton ship—the Enterprise—made a voyage from 
England to India, 11,450 miles, around Good Hope, in 103 
days during but 39 days of which she was under sail exclu- 
sively. This accomplishment, together with others less 
spectacular, added impetus to the growing popularity of 
steam, and by 1830 Lloyd’s Register listed 100 steamers, 
and there were others, particularly in America, not included 
in that list. The Register published in 1841 announced 
that in 1839, 720 steamers were owned in England, Scotland, 
and Ireland. 

In the ’thirties steam navigation went ahead by leaps 
and bounds, and before the ‘forties came, a steam-driven 
vessel—the Great Western—had crossed the Atlantic in 15 
days, which was well under the fastest time for sailing ships 
of her day, and only 2 days over the fastest crossing ever 
made by a sailing ship. The Red Jacket, a clipper, crossed 
in 1854 from Sandy Hook to Rock Light in 13 days, 1 hour. 

But with the rapid increase of steamships arose a condition 
due to the change in economic conditions and the widening 
power of Great Britain that was of the greatest value in the 
development of shipping and consequently of steamships. 

Steam had been applied to machinery on land no less than 
to the propulsion of ships. Factories sprang up, railroads) 
slowly spread their tentacles over Great Britain, the conti- 
nent, and the American seaboard, and commerce conse-| 
quently became more rapid. Goods were shipped in ever- 
increasing amounts, and the widening field of business called 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF STEAMSHIPS — 83 











Ch 
Ap ee 
p MU hI \i AN Y- ty \ 








nS ANU SIN SAAN SANE AV AMEND SQN > 2 NY 


SSS a ee See SS See 





THE GREAT BRITAIN 


An awkward and unsuccessful ship. She proved, however, when she 
was wrecked, that for ship construction iron is stronger than wood, and 
proved, too, that double bottoms, bulkheads, and bilge keels, which were 
new departures when she was built, were most desirable in ships of her size. 


nen here and there who formerly had done what overseas 
yusiness they had had through the captains of ships, or 
hrough supercargoes and agents. 

Great Britain, in addition to, or perhaps because of, her 
rowing power as a centre of manufacture and shipping, 
hrust out her long arms to India and China, to Australia 
tnd New Zealand. The growth of the population at home 
ind the opportunities for colonists in America, in Australia, 
ind other parts of the world, resulted, almost for the first 
ime, in the construction of ships intended solely for the 
yurpose of carrying passengers and mails. A large travelling 
yublic was, for the first time in history, beginning to appear. 
_ In the ‘forties, therefore, began a division of ships into two 


84 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


major classes—carriers of freight and carriers of passengers. 
Sailing ships were still greatly more numerous than steam- 
ships and, as a matter of fact, the finer sailing ships were 
still considered the aristocrats of the sea. But as steam 
engines were perfected, and particularly after the screw 
prope ler was invented by Co'onel John Stevens, an Ameri- 
can, early in the 19th Century, and perfected by F. P. 
Smith, an Englishman, and John Ericson, the Scandinavian- 
American, steamships increased in power, in speed, in relia- 
bility, and consequently in popularity. 

This period saw the beginning of a number of new steam- 
ship lines, some of which, notably the Cunard and the Royal 
Mail, are still in existence, although they are now operated 
on a scale that could never have been imagined even by 
their forward-looking founders. 

And now, as if for the purpose of aiding this great increase 
in the efficiency and size of steamships, came another de- 
velopment, without which the leviathans of to-day would be 
impossible, and but for which the beautiful clipper ships 
which were brought so close to perfection in the middle of 
the 19th Century might still be supreme upon the seas, or 
at least might still be able to hold their own against their 
steam-driven sisters. 

It was the rolling mill, a thing prosaic enough to-day, that 
made possible the great increase in the size and strength of 
ships. The rolling mill and the screw propeller are still the 
basic improvements that have led to the building of most of 
the ships on the high seas to-day. 

The first suggestion of the use of iron plates for the building 
of ships was received with withering sarcasm. How could 
ships be built of iron when everyone knows that iron will 
sink? But even in the face of such criticism ships were 
built, and they were not only built—they were launched 
and they floated. 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF STEAMSHIPS — 85 


So far as I can learn the first boat to be built of iron was 
launched in 1777 on the Foss river in Yorkshire. Later 
several lighters for canal work were built, one in particular 
being constructed near Birmingham in 1787. Less spectacu- 
lar, but still highly important, was the introduction of iron 
for special uses in wooden vessels. This later grew into what 
came to be known as “composite” construction. The 
year 1818 is sometimes given as a definite date for the recogni- 
tion of iron as an accepted ship-building material because in 
that year a lighter named the Vulcan was built in the vicin- 
ity of Glasgow, but it is known that several iron hulls were 
built prior to that time. An iron steamboat named the 
Aaron Manby, after her builder, was operated for twenty 
years on the Seine after being built in England in 1821. 





~ ww 
Ve 
SS 


AN || 2 ie 
Sn 


| 
p 














x ae re. 











wtZ 
==Ss) LALA eee ee 
a SSS LOLI 
i en pe ee ee Y “Dy 
— SS eR SS 5 a SSS ee KLEE Tee 
eat SS Ss By SS SE i —_— a 
“pea Ss Se SS oe 
on —— B ANE, fee ir SS. 2 
= SS ae, Se 
me SS Eo SE = BAO 2 ae eee 
SS (SSS = = 2 = Zee 
SS OS 


THE GREAT EASTERN 


A ship that was built half a century too early. This huge vessel, built in 
1857, was designed to make the voyage from England to Australia without re- 
fuelling. She never made the voyage to Australia, but was used to lay the At- 
lantic cable. She was ahead of her time, for engines had not developed to the 
point where she could be properly propelled. 


86 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


She crossed the English Channel under her own power and 
made the trip from London to Paris. Still, however, there 
were many doubters, and not for more than twenty years 
was an iron ship of large size built. In 1843 the Great 
Britain, a ship of 3,600 tons, was built of iron, and this vessel 
was a notable step in the advancing art of ship-building. 
She was 322 feet long, 50 feet 6 inches broad, and was 
equipped to carry 260 passengers and more than a thousand 
tons of freight—surely no mean vessel, even to-day. 

This ship, as a matter of fact, proved a highly important 
affair, for she proved many things to the wiseacres of the 
day. I am indebted to E. Keble Chatterton, author of 
“The Mercantile Marine,” for his valuable story of her build- 
ing and her adventures. 

So great and so unusual was this ship that, according to 
Mr. Chatterton, no contractor could be found who was will- 
ing to construct her. Consequently, the Great Western 
Steamship Company constructed her itself. 

She turned out, says Mr. Chatterton, to be “an awkward, 
ill-fated monstrosity,’ but despite the fact that she did not 
prove that the combination of screw propeller and iron 
construction were successful, she did prove, after she ran 
ashore on the coast of Ireland, where she remained for eleven 
months exposed to the weather, before she was refloated, 
that an iron hull could withstand far more strenuous strains 
than any wooden hull could hold up under. 

This ship, furthermore, was divided into watertight 
compartments and was equipped with bilge keels, which are 
accepted to-day as an excellent method for lessening a ship’s 
rolling. 

By the time the American Civil War broke out in 1861, 
steam had made such definite strides that there were few to 
question its supremacy over sail. 

The navies of both the North and the South were, except 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF STEAMSHIPS 87 


for a few out-of-date ships, exclusively steam driven. Then, 
in 1862, the Cunard Line built the Scotia, a 3,300-ton iron 
steamer, driven by paddle-wheels. She had seven watertight 
compartments and a double bottom, the value of these 
having been proved by the unfortunate Great Britain, and 
she crossed the Atlantic in eight days and twenty-two hours 
—a record not to be ignored even to-day with the records of 
the Mauretania and the Leviathan before us. Many ships 
on transatlantic routes to-day cannot equal that record, 
and for the first time the outstanding records of the fast 
sailing ships were finally and completely outclassed. 

But before the Scotia slid from her ways the Great Eastern 
was launched. So great was she and so unusual that she 
created a furor in the shipping world that even yet has not 
entirely subsided. 

The idea of building so great a ship originated because of 

the desire to carry a large passenger list and a great cargo 
from England to Australia without having to coal on the 
way. ‘This desire led to the designing of a ship of truly huge 
proportions. She was driven both by paddle-wheels and 
by a screw propeller, and was 679 feet 6 inches long, 82 
feet 8 inches beam, and her tonnage was 18,900—dimen- 
‘sions that were not surpassed until 1905 when the White 
‘Star Line launched the Baltic. She was under construction 
for four years, being launched in 1858. 

So huge was the Great Eastern that her engines, which 
were of only. 3,000 horse power, were inadequate, and she 
never proved to be a real success, financially or mechanically, 
although her hull proved to be staunch enough, despite the 
little past experience her designers and her builders could 
profit by in her construction. 

_ This great ship was equipped with six masts, each capable 
of carrying sail, five funnels, two paddle-wheels, and a pro- 
peller. She never voyaged to Australia, but she did cross 


88 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


the Atlantic, and from 1865 to 1873 she was used for laying 
the first Atlantic cable. In 1888 she was beached and broken 
up. She, however, was ahead of her day. Engines had 
not developed to the point where ships of her size could be 
properly powered, and she merely stands for the courage 
and inventiveness of the mid-Victorian ship-builders who 
dared to undertake so vast and so new a task. 

With the exception of the Great Eastern, however, ships 
increased only gradually in size, and their increases in speed 
were approximately parallel to their growing tonnage. The 
Great Eastern was an attempt—an unsuccessful attempt— 
to leap ahead half a century. But the semi-failure of this 
ship did not retard the growth of ships. Perhaps, even, it 
aided that growth. 

And now again a new development puts in its appearance 
in the world of ships—a less spectacular one than the in- 
troduction of steam, less spectacular even than the introduce- 
tion of iron, but important, nevertheless. In the ‘seventies 
steel was first introduced as a serious competitor to iron for 
the construction of ships. Its greater strength and its com- 
parative lightness were its principle claims to superiority, 
but so important are those that while the Allan liner Buenos 
Ayrean, launched in 1879, was the first steel sea-going ship, 
to-day every merchant ship (with exceptions hardly worthy 
of mention) is built of steel. 

About this same time the White Star Line organized its 
transatlantic service, and in 1870 a 420-foot liner (carrying 
sails in addition to her engines, as was still the rule) was 
launched and put into service in the North Atlantic. The 
White Star Line had previously owned a fleet of clipper 
ships, but when trade between Britain and the United 
States increased so enormously and the trade became profit- 
able the White Star owners decided to enter it. This first 
White Star liner, the Oceanic, may, perhaps, be called the 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF STEAMSHIPS ~— 89 


first of the transatlantic greyhound fleet, for in her, for the 
first time, there were really great concessions made with the 
comfort of the passengers in mind, and from her time until 
to-day new and improved liners have been launched in ever- 
increasing numbers. In 1881 the Cunarder Servia, the 
greatest of her kind save only the Great Eastern, was put in 






— ASS 


A MSS 






= ’ 
ss oN Cog o3 
al = 


Z ee Vf =] & 2 aa S22: 
FLEE } nape aan ae  ——— 
ses iy -: a 2 





TH Gall 


THE STEAMSHIP OCEANIC 


This ship may be said to be the first of the transatlantic liners, for in 
her, for the first time, great concessions were made for the comfort and 
convenience of the passengers. 


service. This 515-foot, 7,300-ton ship was a marvel of 
mechanical perfection in her day and lowered the transat- 
lantic record to seven days, one hour, and _ thirty-eight 
minutes. 

One of the greatest reasons for the increased speed of 
these new ships was the introduction of the compound engine. 
It was in 1854 that John Elder, a Briton, adapted the com- 
pound engine to marine uses. This improvement, by utiliz- 
ing more thoroughly the expansive power of steam, increased 
at one stroke the power developed by engines without in- 


90 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


creasing the supply of steam. The principle of the compound 
engine is simple. Steam escaping from the single cylinder 
of a simple steam engine still retains a part of its pressure— 
that is, a part of its power to expand. As it is largely the 
expansion of the steam that forces the piston from one end 
of the cylinder to the other this means that a part of the 
useful force of the steam is wasted in the average single- 
cylinder engine. A compound engine, however, utilizes 
this power by leading the steam from the exhaust port of 
the first cylinder to the inlet port of another and much 
larger cylinder. Here the steam, now occupying more space, 
is used again to operate another piston connected to the 
same crankshaft. There is often still a third cylinder, and 
in some cases a fourth, in each of which some of the remaining 
power of the steam is utilized. The gradual increase of 
steam pressure in the better boilers that were being built 
also aided the development of these compound engines. 
In 1854, for instance, 42 pounds pressure per square inch 
was seldom exceeded, while in 1882, 125 pounds was a pres- 
sure occasionally reached. 

With the development of compound engines and boilers 
capable of more pressure the screw propeller became even 
more efficient, and gradually the paddle-wheel disappeared 
from the deep sea. Furthermore, the compound engine, by 
its more economic power, made it possible for the steamer 
to compete with the sailing ship in the carrying of cargoes, 
even on long voyages, and so began the rapid growth of the 
cargo steamers that now have practically driven sailing 
ships from the sea. 

And now comes a division of this subject of steamships— 
a division that later led to subdivision after subdivision, 
but which I shall treat in two major parts: steamers 
equipped to carry passengers, and steamers not so equipped. 

The passenger steamers have gone through an amazingly 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF STEAMSHIPS = 91 


rapid growth since 1888, and have developed along many 
lines, but it was in that year that the first twinscrew steamers 
of large dimensions were put in service. The Inman liners 
City of New York and City of Paris were the first large ships 
to be so equipped. This double system of propulsion elimi- 
nated the necessity for sails on liners, and from that time 
on the masts of ocean liners have deteriorated to mere 
supports for derricks and signal spars. By this time, too, 
all the larger steamers were being fitted with steam stearing 
gears. This important (and now almost universal) ap- 
pliance was first installed on the Inman liner City of Brussels 
in 1869. 

And now, in the late eighties and early *nineties, came the 
forerunners of the long list of ships that have grown into the 
finest fleet of express steamers to be found on any of the 
Seven Seas. Great Britain and the United States were 
primarily interested in this trade, but the other nations 
of northern Europe also had a part to play, and even Austria- 
Hungary and Italy entered the competition. But the 
United States gradually grew to depend more and more 
on the ships of other nations until finally the American 
Line with its handful of ships was almost the only serious 
American contender for the profits of the rapidly growing 
passenger business that had developed. 

But into this furious competition a new nation thrust 
itself. Germany had become a power—a forceful, dominat- 
ing power—as was proved in the Franco-Prussian War in 
1870 and 1871. And she saw that her “place in the sun”’ 
could only be gained by venturing on the sea. Government 
aid to shipping and an enthusiastic demand on the part of 
the people for increased tonnage resulted in the building up — 
of a merchant marine that for size and speed, for energy and 
enterprise became, shortly, second to none but Britain, and 
in some aspects exceeded even that great sea power. 


92 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


Britain, it is interesting to note, had built up a fleet of 
merchant ships that was predominantly composed of freight 
ships. Germany, on the other hand, built up a fleet domi- 
nated in numbers by her liners. 

Of the dozen or so principal German lines that dominated 
her entire merchant marine, the Hamburg-American Line 
was the most important, and the North German Lloyd 
was second. At the outbreak of the World War the Hamburg- 
American Line made up about twenty per cent. of the entire 
German mercantile fleet, and totalled nearly five hundred 
ships of about eleven hundred thousand tons. This great 
organization in the sixty-seven years of its existence had 
become the most powerful steamship line in the world. Nor 
was the North German Lloyd far behind. In 1914 its ton- 
nage had reached the huge total of 700,000. 

These two lines, and eight or nine others, all of great size, 
controlled the great part of Germany’s tonnage, and because 
of subsidies, of preferred rates given them by German rail- 
roads, of the practical control of German and Russian emi- 
gration, aided, or at least not opposed, by the Government, 
this huge fleet captured a very large percentage of the 
European emigrant travel and much of the world’s fast 
freight. So vast was the Hamburg-American Line that 
their ships called regularly at literally hundreds of the world’s 
principal ports and operated seventy-five separate services. 

While the Hamburg-American Line was organized in 
1847 and the North German Lloyd in 1857, their startling 
growth did not really begin until after the Franco-Prussian 
War, and even then for nearly twenty years their develop- 
ment was not surprising. 

But in the twenty-four years following 1890 the German 
lines built fast and furiously. As late as the ‘eighties they 
were buying British-built ships or were having their ships 
built in British yards, but then came the development of 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF STEAMSHIPS = 93 


Te 
Goo = = 


Nil 
‘ait " " 
aa ‘ PB A 
ry Uy 1 = 
* gw ® wea 
[j) TT 
WLR Hill H } 
oye if 
/ i 1 bi 
/ ! ee HH} i Hi 
/ UTA 
= _ —— 
oe = ae 
a 





THE DEUTSCHLAND 
Formerly the holder of the transatlantic record. 


German ship-building and before many years had passed 
greater and faster liners than any Britain had built came 
sliding from their German ways into German waters. 

But Britain’s claim to the mastery of the seas was not one 
_based solely on her matchless fleet, and each time a German 
ship was built to outstrip the British flyers, a British yard 
was set to work on still a faster ship, with the result that 
despite the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, the Deutschland, the 
_Kaiserin Auguste Victoria, the Kaiser Wilhelm IT, and many 
others, the British were able to answer with ships still faster 
until the Lusitania and Mauretania were built and the 
Germans called off their race for speed and started the build- 
Ing of such monster ships as have not yet been surpassed. 
The three greatest ships in the world to-day—the Majestic, 
the Leviathan, and the Berengaria—are all German built. 
But Germany overreached herself and fell, carrying with 
her in her collapse all her ambitions upon the sea, for the 


94 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


end of the World War saw her reduced to an inconsequential 
sea power—and reduced to such a state largely because of her 
illegitimate use of another kind of ship—the submarine. 

While the race with Germany was at its height, however, 
Britain was never for a moment out of the running. The 
Olympic, the Titanic, the Justicia, the Britannic, the Lusi- 
tania, the Mauretania, and many others came from her ways. 
And although the Titanic ended her first voyage when she 
sank after a collision with an iceberg, and the Justicia, the 
Britannic, and the murdered Lusitania were casualties of 
the war, still Britain has giant ships, for the Germans, to 
pay partially for their submarine campaign, were forced to 
give over the most important section of their merchant fleet 
to the Allies, and Britain, properly enough, for her losses 
were far the greatest, rightfully secured the lion’s share. 

These giant ships, however, and their smaller sisters in 
the passenger trade are only a part of recent shipping de- 
velopments. Once the compound engine had been per- 
fected, steam, as I have said, began its competition with 
sail in the carrying of freight. Already the major portion of 
passenger travel had been taken over by steam, but until 
steam had become a more reliable and a less expensive power, 
sailing ships contended successfully for freight—particularly 
on long voyages. 

In the eighties, however, or perhaps a little earlier, steam 
began its irresistible competition for freight and in thirty 
years sailing ships had come to play a small and compara- 
tively unimportant part in the world’s affairs. Still there 
remain many sailing ships, particularly in the fishing fleets 
and the coasting trade, and occasionally, but with less and 
less frequency, one sees a fine old square-rigged ship driving 
through the great green swells of mid-ocean, but they are 
few—and for the person who is drawn by the drama and 
adventure of the sea, painfully few. 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF STEAMSHIPS — 95 


In the ‘sixties steamship tonnage was launched at about 
the same rate as sail in Great Britain, but early in the ’seven- 
ties the rapid increase of steamship tonnage began, and 
sailing ships correspondingly declined. Sailing ships were 
built, of course, and are still being built, and in Britain 
their average size even continued to increase until 1892, 
but then began to decrease in size to correspond with their 
decrease in numbers. 

Steamships, on the other hand, increased both in individual 
size and in numbers. This increase in size had been notice- 
able ever since steam came to be a recognized source of 
power for ships. In 1815, for instance, steamships averaged. 
only 80 tons. By 1830 this had grown to 102 tons; by 1860 
it had risen to 473 tons; and its temporary maximum was 
attained in 1882 when the average had grown to 1,442 tons. 
The next few years saw a decrease, but 1890 saw the figure 
raised to 1,500 tons. 

By that time steam had absolutely proved itself, and the 
day of the supremacy of the sailing ship on the high seas had 
definitely passed, and steamships had reached the point of 
almost infinite variety of design. So great and so diverse 
are the designs of present-day ships that Captain David 
W. Bone, in “The Lookoutman,” published in 1923, ex- 
pended the space of an entire volume to a discussion of 
them; nor did he enter into technicalities other than those 
that, at least to the sailor, lie on the surface. With this 
precedent to guide one I feel that I am perhaps unduly 
optimistic in endeavouring to cover this subject, even super- 
ficially, in the following two chapters; but so vast is the 
subject that this book pretends to cover that each chapter 
could easily be enlarged to many times its size. 


CHAPTER V 
THE PERFECTION OF STEAMSHIPS 


Mort people who have had little experience with the 
sea, and many who have travelled on it, have little 
idea of the size of ships. Probably this is due to the fact 
that we see so much mention made of the world’s greatest 
ships, with their tonnage and their other measurements, and 
so little of the thousands of ships that carry the bulk of the 
world’s passengers and practically all of the world’s freight. 
Our newspapers refer frequently to ships of thirty or forty 
or fifty thousand tons, but rarely do they mention the ship 
of 3,500 or 4,000 tons. Consequently, with such frequent 
mention of the giant liners before us, our tendency is, nat- 
urally enough, to imagine that they are typical of the sea, 
which is a very great error. In the transatlantic service 
there were, in 1924, but ten steamships of more than twenty- 
five thousand tons. On other routes none of them exists. 
It is as if we thought all buildings small because they do not 
equal in size St. Peter’s in Rome, or Versailles in France, 
or the Woolworth Building in New York, for the greatest 
steamers are as much greater than the average as St. Peter’s 
is larger than the little parish church, as Versailles is greater 
than the average home of a country gentleman, as the Wool- 
worth Building is greater than the countless thousands of 
office buildings that house the great majority of business 
offices. 

Yet these great ships, trifling in number though they are, 
are properly of interest to stay-at-homes and travellers alike, 
to landlubbers and sailors. The thing to remember, how- 

96 


THE PERFECTION OF STEAMSHIPS 97 


aver, is that from the viewpoint of world commerce they 
we comparatively unimportant, and that the world could 
much more readily carry on its great affairs without these 
rigantic sea-borne palaces than without the smaller passen- 
zer ships and the countless thousands of “tramps”’ that roll 
and pitch and plod across the Seven Seas and make possible 
the commerce upon which the modern world depends. 

It is important, therefore, to bear in mind what measure- 
ments constitute greatness in size, and what measurements 
are average. Such ships as the Majestic, the Berengaria, 
and the Leviathan are truly gigantic, and probably for many 
years to come they will not be greatly surpassed in size. 
So large are these three ships that they can enter only a few 
of the world’s great harbours, they cannot be tied up at more 








pe os = 
H 
i 


Wye. 
SB oy. 
LCN ER 





| 


(—_— > 4) 
tic So== P| 
ee ry ee 
beret iin 


C026 es bo a Ee. OR eed 
@-e 
Pe Gr Oe smig gids See ey Eitcad 
Or eite, hol, 


i) 
hl 


in a: 
SRE at Nae ate TO Gah 
Levee. i 
os , B: Be PS ey Met) 6 odihon aie he 4 z 


THE MAJESTIC 


| Formerly the German liner Bismarck. It is now the property of the White 
Star Line. _ 


_l 


98 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


than a handful of piers, they cannot be docked at more than 
a few of the world’s great dry docks. There are a few other 
liners that approach these great ships in size, but not many, 
The Aquitania, the Mauretania, the Olympic, the Homeric, 
the Paris, the George Washington, the Belgenland, the 
torpedoed Lusitania and Justicia, the Titanic which was 
wrecked on an iceberg—all these ships belong to the same 
race of giants, but there are no others, although, of course, 
there are other ships that bridge the gap between the wal- 
lowing tramps and these that I have mentioned. 

For the present, however, I shall pass by the smaller ships, 
more important though they are, as a race, and describe, 
in some detail the marvellous ships that voyage between the 
English Channel on the East and New York on the West, 
for it is in this service that all the greatest ships are to be 
found. 

Modern marine engineering is quite up to designing, 
constructing, and operating ships greater than any that now 
exist, but should much larger ships be built little would be 
gained. New dry docks would have to be built, new piers 
constructed, deeper channels dredged, all at huge expense, 
and the building of such ships would in itself call for dis- 
bursements so vast that the companies operating them would 
find it difficult or perhaps impossible to make them pay. 
Consequently, I shall content myself with describing what 
now exists, feeling certain that any developments within 
many years will not so much surpass these great ships al- 
ready afloat as to make my remarks entirely out of date. 

As an example, therefore, let us take the Majestic, which, 
despite some argument on the part of those who put the 
Leviathan in commission, is slightly larger than any of the 
others I have named. 

To say that she is 956 feet long and 100 feet broad means 
little. It may, perhaps, mean more to say that it would not 


THE PERFECTION OF STEAMSHIPS oy 


be advisable to anchor more than four such ships in a harbour 
a mile square and forty-five feet deep. But even that, 
perhaps, may leave one wondering. 

An automobile can turn around without difficulty in a 
street fifty feet wide. If the Majestic, however, found it 


nm rm 
A Hae raw mala 


i mn Wl on m nn 
a i ii ae 


a 





THE LEVIATHAN 


Formerly the German liner Vaterland, and taken over by the United States 
during the World War. 


necessary to turn around while under way without resorting 
to anything more than the use of her steering wheel she 
would require a channel more than a mile wide. Inamuch 
more restricted space than that, the utmost skill in reversing 
her propellers or the use of tugboats would be essential. 

It is trite to remark that such a ship is a floating city, 
yet she actually is. Her passengers and crew together, at 
the height of the tourist season, number more than 5,000, 
but no town in the world of that population has such luxuries 


100 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEasS 


or comforts, such machinery or such artistic interiors as this 
great ship carries as its equipment. 

In order to give an adequate idea of what this vast sted 
structure contains and is propelled by it will be necessary 
to divide it into two major parts—that is, the hull and the 
machinery, and the accommodations for passengers. 

First let us take the hull and the machinery. 

The hull of a ship is its prime necessity. Without a hull 
there can be no ship, just as without a foundation and 
without walls there can be no house, for a ship’s hull com- 
bines her foundation and her walls. In order, then, to 
understand the greatness of the gigantic liners we are dis- 
cussing the first thing to understand is the hull. 

All hulls of great size are built of steel. First a great 
steel framework is constructed, then it is covered with sheets 
of steel and many steel decks are built, and steel bulkheads 
are installed in order to give still greater strength. 

In building such a ship the first thing necessary is a 
great yard large enough to accommodate the ship, and many 
shops in which parts of the ship are to be made or assembled. 
There is an incline constructed on which the ship will be 
built, and the incline is so arranged as to slant down to the 
water’s edge. The ship’s frame is first put up, and the first 
part of the frame is the keel. The keel is a long and very 
heavy backbone that runs the entire length of the ship and 
is the centre of the bottom. To the ends of this are fastened 
the great steel frames that rise high above the keel to form 
the bow and the stern—that is, the front and back of the 
ship. At narrow intervals between these two towering 
ends are erected the “‘frames’’ or ribs, which, in order to 
make them strong, are built up like great steel girders, 
running from the keel along the bottom and up the sides. 
When all of these are riveted in place a very good idea of 
the shape of the ship can be secured. Amidships—that is, 


THE PERFECTION OF STEAMSHIPS 101 





THE BERENGARIA 
A former German ship now belonging to the Cunard Line. 


halfway from the bow to the stern—these frames are very 
much like a broad and flat-bottomed U, but as they approach 
the bow they are more and more like huge Vs. Toward 
the stern they take more unusual shapes, somewhat like a 
V except that a little above the bottom on each side they 
curve sharply out and back in a semi-circle in order to go 
around the shafts on which the propellers are carried. 
Thousands of men work on these huge steel structures, 
and a “skin” of steel is riveted on the outside of these 
frames. In the bottom and extending a little way up the 
sides a second ‘‘skin” is placed on the inside of the ribs. 
These two coverings make up the “double bottom.” 
Girders for decks are put in place, great rooms are left for 
boilers, engines, and other equipment, the shafts are in- 
Stalled, the engines and boilers are bolted in place, and 
finally, when the ship is getting fairly well along toward 
completion, she is launched. That is, the great timbers 


102 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


that have been holding her in place are sawed in two, and 
the great vessel slides down the ways into the water. 

After she is launched the infinite number of. tasks still 
untouched are attended to, and finally she is completed—a 
marvellously complicated and wonderfully perfect fabrica- 
tion, into which almost every industry in a nation has put 
something. 

These hulls are huge and are tremendously strong, yet so 
great are the dimensions of the ship, so great her weight, 
that should her giant hull touch a rock the heavy steel plates 
would curl up like paper, the frames would bend like tin, 
and driven head on against a cliff or an iceberg the great 
structure would crumple its bow, twist its great frames, and 
might become a total wreck. 

Modern ships that are propelled by machinery use two 
principal methods of propulsion, paddle-wheels and screw 
propellers. Paddle-wheels bear a very close resemblance 
to mill-wheels. They are merely great circular structures 
with paddles attached at intervals around the circumference 
which, when the wheel is partly submerged and set to turn- 
ing, strike the water one after the other and so propel the 
hull to which the wheel is attached. ‘These wheels are some- 
times arranged amidships, one on each side, and sometimes 
but one wheel is used (in this case it is much broader) at 
the stern, or rear end of the vessel. This equipment is not 
satisfactory for ocean-going ships, for heavy seas sometimes 
crush the paddle-wheels. River steamers, however, and 
particularly shallow-draft river steamers, find this means 
of propulsion satisfactory. 

The other method of propelling ships—that is, by screw 
propellers—is more important, and for use at sea is practi- 
cally universal. 

A screw propeller operates on exactly the same principle 
as an electric fan, and ships may have one or more of these 


THE PERFECTION OF STEAMSHIPS 103 


propellers, which are fastened to shafts projecting through 
the hull beneath the water at the stern. If the ship were 
tied up strongly to a pier, so that it could not move, and the 
propellers were turned by the engines, the result would be 
to set in motion a column of water away from the propeller 
just as an electric fan sets in motion a column of air. The 
resistance of the water is so great, however, that once the 
lines that secured the ship to the pier were thrown off, the 
propellers would set the ship in motion, and the propellers 
would progress through the water in somewhat the same way 
that an ordinary wood screw advances through wood when 
a screwdriver is properly applied. 

The Majestic is propelled by four of these propellers, two 
on each side astern. ‘Turning at 180 revolutions a minute 
they utilize 80,000 horse power. One might think that 
propellers would waste much of this power—that is, that 
they might turn in the water without pushing the ship 
forward very much, as a wood screw sometimes turns round 
and round without getting a grip on the wood into which 
the carpenter wishes to drive it. This is true to some extent 
when a ship is first starting, but once the ship is in motion 
a properly designed propeller will be 95 per cent. efficient— 
that is, it will go as far in 100 revolutions as if it ran without 
any “slip”’ for 95 revolutions. 

A propeller is measured by its diameter, just as an electric 
fan is measured. A propeller ten feet in diameter is one 
whose blades, measured from the centre of the shaft, are 
five feet long. Another and equally important measurement 
is the “pitch”’—that is, the distance forward the propeller 
would travel in one revolution if it were running through a 
solid. Take a wood screw and look at it carefully. You 
will find that the threads run around it in a spiral. Mark 
a Spot on one thread, and then trace the thread around the 
Screw until it again reaches the side you marked. It will 


104 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


have advanced toward the point, and the direct distance 
between the place you first marked and the place you have 
arrived at would be the “pitch.” As a propeller blade 
travels in a path similar to the thread of a screw, its pitch 
is similarly measured. 

The four propellers on the Majestic are built of manganese 
bronze and each carries four blades. They are 163 feet in 
diameter, and their pitch is 14 feet 11% inches. 

Two of these propellers turn one way and the two on the 
opposite side turn the other. This is to offset the tendency 
to swing the ship out of its line of travel, which would be very 
apparent if all the propellers turned one way. Ships with 
one propeller feel this action very plainly. 

Such huge propellers as the Majestic carries, and such great 
power as her engines develop, necessitate the use of heavy 
shafts, which are the great round steel rods that connect the 
engines and the propellers. These shafts run from the 
centres of the propellers through the ship’s stern to the en- 
gine room, and in the Majestic are 163 inches in diameter. 
Where they enter the ship there must be a very carefully 
built “stuffing box’? and bearing which will prevent the 
entrance of water. Once each shaft has passed this bearing 
it runs for a considerable distance through a “shaft tunnel,” 
which is a long, low, narrow compartment through which 
men may walk in order to inspect the shaft and see that the 
bearings, which are spaced at intervals along the “tunnel,” 
are properly oiled. Finally the shaft reaches an apparatus 
called the “thrust block.” This is a simple but highly 
important arrangement. ‘To explain its use it is necessary 
to go back to the propeller. 

When the engines are in motion and the propellers are 
being turned they develop a great “‘push”’ against the water, 
and it is this push that makes the ship move. If, however, 
something were not done to take up the push, the propellers 


THE PERFECTION OF STEAMSHIPS 105 


would slide the shafts lengthwise through their bearings, 
and the end of the shaft attached to the engine would press 
so hard against it that it would push the engine from its 
base, or at least would wear the bearings out, and the engine 
would be damaged. 

In order to receive this “‘thrust,”’ as it is called, the “‘ thrust 
blocks”’ are installed. There are several designs, but they 
all accomplish the same task in a similar fashion. 

The shaft is equipped with a series of “‘collars.”’ These 
collars, which are enlargements of the shaft, are so placed 
that they fit between a series of surfaces attached firmly to 
a heavy fixed base, and when the propeller thrust tends to 
slide the shaft lengthwise, the “‘collars”’ press against these 





THE MAURETANIA 
A British liner of the Cunard Line. 


106 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


interposed plates which prevent the shaft from moving 
laterally without preventing its rotation. Naturally enough 
these thrust blocks must be lavishly oiled, for the friction 
between the turning collars and the fixed thrust blocks would 
otherwise soon wear both the collars and the blocks. When 
the propeller is reversed the thrust is against the other side 
of the collars, and so the engine is relieved of all duties save 
those of turning the shaft. 

When the shafts have passed these thrust blocks they have 
entered the engine room, which on these great liners is a 
place far different from the engine rooms on the smaller 
ships that are to be found the world over. 

Perhaps the first thing that would strike an inexperienced 
visitor in the engine rooms—for there are three—of the 
Majestic is their size and the absence of moving parts. Aside 
from the hum of turbines and generators and the vibrations 
that are a part of every power plant, there is little to tell a 
person unacquainted with such power installations that the 
engines are going. Great turbine cases are bolted strongly 
to their bases, but the rapidly moving vanes are entirely 
hidden from view. A few men wander here and there, some 
watching indicators, others testing bearings, still others 
polishing the already shining machinery, but there are no 
turning shafts, no moving wheels in view. As a matter of 
fact, most of the visible motion and most of the sounds as 
well come from a lot of little machines whose duties are 
important, of course, but are not directly connected with 
that one great task of spinning the propellers at 180 revolu- 
tions every minute day and night while the miles are being 
rapidly put behind the great ship as she speeds along her 
route across the Atlantic. 

So complicated and so huge is this collection of machinery 
that it may, perhaps, be better to pass by the engine rooms 
for the moment and go to the stokehold, or boiler room, in 


THE PERFECTION OF STEAMSHIPS 107 


yrder to get an adequate idea of how the machinery is 
yperated. 

_ In smaller ships all the boilers can often be placed so that 
here will be but one stokehold—that is, one compartment 
‘rom which all the boilers are fed. Ships of the size of the 
Vlajestic and Leviathan, however, are equipped with so many 





THE BELGENLAND 
Belonging to the Red Star Line. 


boilers that they cannot all be grouped about one stokehold. 
The Majestic, for instance, has forty-eight separate boilers 
which, if they burned coal, would require 12 chief stokers, 
197 firemen, and 168 coal passers in order to keep the fires 
burning properly. The most modern of these giant ships, 
however, do not burn coal. Oil is led to the boilers in pipes 
and, on the Majestic, but eighty-four men are required to 
get the results that it would take 377 men to get with coal. 
These 84 men are divided into three watches, so that the 


108 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


fires are kept burning and the steam is generated with but 
16 fire-room attendants and 12 cleaners at any one time. 
They work for four hours, and are then off eight, coming to 
the fire room every twelve hours for their four-hour watch. 

Each of these boilers has five burners, to which the oil is 
forced under pressure. Each fire-room attendant (they can 
hardly be called stokers) has three boilers, or fifteen burners, 
and the steam pressure in the boilers can be carried at 240 
pounds pressure per square inch. 

In ships burning coal the stokehold is a grimy place, with 
yawning openings in the sides leading to the black bunkers 
where the coal is stored. A few dust-covered electric lights 
glow dimly in the murky dusk, and when a furnace door 
is opened the glare of the fiercely burning fires lights up the 
begrimed and sweating stokers, who seem almost like un- 
earthly creatures toiling in an over-heated Inferno. 

But the great oil-burning liners have a different picture 
to present. The fire room is almost as neat and clean as is 
the engine room. ‘The firemen do not seem to be over- 
worked, as they step from one to another of their burners, 
looking through a series of peepholes to see that the oil is 
burning properly. Smudges of dirt are not uncommon on a 
man’s face and hands, perhaps, but the begrimed Vulcans 
of the coal-burning ships have no counterpart on the oil 
burners, and the coal dust and the dingy stokehold is a far 
cry. 

The Mayestic’s boilersdo not depend upon natural draft, but 
a set of four powerful fans draws the warm air from the turbine 
rooms through two great air shafts about seven feet in diam- 
eter and forces it under pressure beneath the boilers. These 
great air shafts total 1,000 feet in length, and a part of the air 
they supply is led to each boiler. In addition to this supply 
for the furnaces there is a separate supply of fresh air for the 
crew of the boiler rooms. The boilers are all separate and 


THE PERFECTION OF STEAMSHIPS 109 


amy one or any series can be completely shut off from the 
others in case of necessity. 

The steam that is generated in the forty-eight boilers of the 
Majestic is led by a complicated system of pipes to the tur- 
bines, which drive the propellers. 

Formerly steamships universally used the reciprocating 
engine, but gradually the turbine is being adopted, until 
now the fastest ships are universally equipped with this 
later design. | 

A reciprocating engine is one that has one or more cylin- 
ders in which pistons are pushed back and forth by the steam 
which enters alternately one end of the cylinder and then the 
‘other, thus turning the shaft. This piston, running first 
‘up and then down, is joined to a “connecting rod”’ which in 
turn is connected to a “crank shaft”? which is a continuation 
of the propeller shaft. As the piston moves up and down, 
one end of the connecting rod moves with it, for it is fastened 
by a hinge to the lower end of the piston rod which runs out 
of the bottom of the cylinder. The other end of the con- 
necting rod is attached to the crank shaft which has a section 
of itself carried out to one side just as the shaft on which 
a grindstone is mounted is bent at right angles and attached 
tothe handle. As the piston goes up, carrying the connect- 
ing rod with it, the off-centre section of the crank shaft is 
carried up also, as the handle of a grindstone is carried up 
when the operator begins to turn the wheel. When the 
piston has reached the top of its stroke the connecting rod 
has pulled the crank until it is pointing straight up. Then 
the steam pushes the piston down and the piston pushes the 
connecting rod, which in turn pushes the crank, so that the 
shaft is turned, just as you might turn a grindstone by 
hand, your arm representing the piston rod and connecting 
rod, and the handle representing the crank shaft. 

The turbine, however, is a very different machine. There 


110 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


are no pistons and no other parts similar to those of the 
reciprocating engine. Instead there is a shaft on which is 
mounted a great steel wheel. Around the edge of this wheel 
are mounted thousands of little vanes, and the whole wheel 
works on the same principle as a windmill. A windmill 
carries a comparatively small number of vanes arranged 
somewhat as the blades of an electric fan or a propeller are 
arranged. When the wind blows against these “vanes” 
the wheel revolves. Now a turbine is a very highly de- 
veloped example of this same principle, and the steam 
is led to it through pipes and directed against these vanes, 
which are small but are very numerous. ‘The result is that 
this windmill type of engine revolves at a very rapid rate. 
One can get some idea of these turbines when he learns that 
the eight turbines of the Majestic contain a total of 900,000 
vanes. 

Turbines, however, have two major failings: First, they 
cannot be reversed—that is, a turbine can turn in only one 
direction—and second, they are most efficient when they 
operate at high speed. In order to use turbines on ships, 
then, it is necessary to have one turbine on each propeller 
shaft to drive the propeller ahead, and another turbine with 
which to drive it astern. Consequently, the Majestic has 
eight turbines—two to each propeller shaft. 

The second difficulty is harder to overcome. Propellers 
are most efficient when they are run at comparatively slow 
speeds. Those on the Majestic are no exceptions to this rule, 
and at full speed are run at about one hundred eighty 
revolutions per minute. Turbines, however, are high-speed 
machines, capable generally of thousands of revolutions 
per minute. In order to utilize the power generated by the 
rapidly revolving turbine and transpose it into useful energy 
for use by the slowly turning propeller there must be some 
sort of reduction gear. The United States Navy has de- 


THE PERFECTION OF STEAMSHIPS 11] 






a? aa 
Wee . ES) SN 
FSS 
SSSSS=—~ __ xr 


THE GEORGE WASHINGTON 


An American liner, formerly a German ship. She was taken over by the 
United States during the World War. 


signed a number of its newest ships with an electric drive in 
which the high-speed turbines are used to generate electricity 
which is used to turn slow motors that drive the propellers. 
Another method is a reducing gear, similar in the work it 
does to the gears used in automobiles for “low” and “‘in- 
termediate,” but necessarily very much greater in size. 
In the Majestic the arrangement is of the latter type—that is, 
the turbines are operated at high speeds, and through a series 
of gears the propeller shafts are turned at slower speeds. 
Necessarily, in operating ships of such size as these we are 
discussing, any wasteful methods would be very expensive. 
It is open to some question as to whether these huge ships 
are worth what they cost, for the margin of profit they show 
is very small, and the cost of operation and repair is huge. 


112 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


In order, therefore, to make them pay it is vitally neces- 
sary to eliminate waste. For instance, if the turbines were 
each operated by steam direct from the boilers, and this 
steam were sent direct to the condensers after having passed 
only once across the vanes of a turbine, it would take very 
nearly four times as much steam, and four times as much 
fuel, to operate the Majestic as it does with the system that 
is installed. Only part of the power of the steam is used up 
in the first turbine through which it passes, so when the ship 
is at full speed, the steam, still under comparatively high 
pressure, although much less than when it left the boilers, 
is led from the first turbine, which is called the high-pressure 
turbine, to a second turbine, called the intermediate. Here 
again it fans the vanes and the turbine revolves, but once 
more the steam is used, for part of its power still remains 
This time, however, the pressure is much less, and the steam 
has expanded until it takes up more space than it took up ir 
the boiler, just as the air in the rubber bladder of a footbal 
would take up more room if the leather cover which keep: 
it compressed were removed, or the inner tube of an automo 
bile tire would expand if the “‘shoe” or “casing” were no 
around it. This expanded steam is divided, when it come 
from the intermediate turbine, and is led to the two outsid 
turbines—that is, the turbines that operate the port, or lef 
hand, and the starboard, or right-hand, propellers. Thes 
are the low-pressure turbines, and when the steam ha 
passed through these turbines, causing them to turn, it 
work is done and it is led to the condenser. 

Condensers are a vital part of every sea-going steamship’ 
equipment. Locomotives do not need them, and stationar, 
engines ashore do not, for they can easily replenish thei 
supply of water, but to a ship crossing the ocean, fresh wate 
is avital necessity, for its boilers no less than for its passenger 
and crew, and should the used steam be allowed to escape 


| 
| THE PERFECTION OF STEAMSHIPS 113 


he ship, no matter how great her water tanks might be, 
yould probably run out of fresh water long before her voyage 
sould be completed, if it happened to be at all long. If, 
nsuch a predicament, she should attempt to use salt water 
here would very soon be a heavy covering of salt inside her 
oilers and her steaming ability would become limited, and, 
‘urthermore, the boilers would very shortly require a thor- 
yugh cleaning. 

_In order to prevent this difficulty from arising, all salt- 
yater steamships and many that are used on fresh water, 
or lakes and rivers often contain sediment that would foul 
he boilers, use condensers. ‘These are water-cooled systems 
if pipes through which the steam is led after its final release 
rom the engines. ‘The steam, which of course is still hot, 
3 led through these carefully cooled pipes, and in coming 
oto contact with the cool walls of the pipes is condensed, 
ust as the moisture in your warm breath is condensed in 
he winter when you breathe against a cold window pane. 
(his condensation turns the steam into water once more, and 
tis led back to the tanks where it is held in readiness to be 
ent again to the boilers. 

The auxiliary machinery of such a ship as the Majestic 
w the Leviathan is even more complicated than, although 
1ot so powerful as, the engines which drive the propellers. 

_ [have mentioned the ventilation system of the stokehold, 
yut that is only a small part of the system that ventilates 
‘very nook and cranny in the whole huge structure. There 
we refrigerators, which are capable of keeping in cold storage 
arge quantities of perishable products. ‘There is even, on 
he Majestic, a second refrigerating plant intended to cool 
t cargo hold in order that perishable freight may be carried. 
{nother important auxiliary machine on the Majestic is a 
Jiesel engine for generating electricity in case something 
night put the main generating plant out of commission. 


114 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


With this emergency plant, power is assured for lightin 
and for lowering the lifeboats. 

In order to handle so great a ship when the engines a 
necessarily at such a distance from the “bridge” where tk 
officer in command has his post when the ship is under wa) 
it is necessary to have some means of communication betwee 
the bridge and the engine room. 

A person driving an automobile is not only in comman 
of the steering of the machine, but is also in direct charge « 
the engine, the gears, and the brakes. Not so the captai 
of aship. Neither he, nor any of the men with him on t 
bridge, has any means of starting or stopping the engine 
There is a man at the steering wheel, of course, but the me 
who start and stop and reverse the engines are far belo 
the bridge and far aft, hidden away beyond where ar 
shouted orders could possibly reach them. Yet the e 
gines must be operated as the captain commands, for he 
the man who can see what must be done—he is the one upx 
whose judgment the safety of the ship depends. 

In order to bridge the gap between the bridge and tl 
engine room anapparatus called the ‘“ engine-room telegrapl 
has been perfected. There are a number of designs, but: 
of them by simple mechanical means permit the officer « 
the bridge to operate a handle and set a hand on a di 
placed in the engine room so that it signifies the office 
orders. 

All this that I have so far described, and much more th 
I have not even hinted at, is put into a ship merely in ord 
that passengers and freight can be quickly and safely carri’ 
over the sea. In these days of luxury, however, passengt’ 
demand more than speed and safety. Comfort is, from t! 
viewpoint of steamship lines vying with each other f 
passengers, a vital necessity, and competition has add! 
comfort to comfort until ships have become lavish a! 


| THE PERFECTION OF STEAMSHIPS 115 
luxurious, and such service as can be had only at the finest 
hotels and watering places ashore are commonplaces of the 
sea. Every luxury that lies within the bounds of reason— 
and, to be truthful, a few that seem to lie just across the 
oorder—are to be found on the greatest ships of to-day, 
Does one wish a suite of rooms with private parlours and 
solariums, numerous bedrooms and private baths) It is to 
oe had (by the payment of a price) and one is king of truly 
‘egal quarters for a passage. Does one wish to bathe in such 
, bath as Caracalla would have marvelled at? One has 
nerely to go below, put on a bathing suit in the privacy of 
a perfectly appointed dressing room, and plunge into the 
srystal water of a pool that would have been the envy 
of any luxury-loving Roman—a pool so great that in it 
‘he smallest of Columbus’s ships could comfortably ride 
it anchor. Does one wish to entertain one’s friends at 
linner? A word to the steward, and when the party is led 
‘0 its table, there it finds all the brilliance of snowy napery 
und polished silver, of sparkling crystal and fragrant flowers, 





THE HOMERIC 
A British liner belonging to the White Star Line. 


116 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS | 


with specially printed menus prepared for the event. Has_ 
one ‘‘snapped”’ some scenes about the deck with his camera) 
He has merely to take the film to the dark room and develop 
it himself or have the task performed by an attendant. A 
doctor ison duty. An orchestra is carried in order that music 
may be had for dances, for entertainments, and during meals. 
A library, with great thick rugs, with easy chairs, and cases 
filled with books beckons to one when other pastimes pall. 
A smoking room where card games can be played is a popular 
centre. A palm garden and an a la carte restaurant are 
to be found in addition to the regular dining room. A 
gymnasium is convenient. A nursery for small children is 
available. But a complete description of such a ship is all 
but impossible. 

These are the ships that are the perfection of the type that 
have all but driven sails from the seas—that have, in the 
carrying of passengers, entirely eliminated sails. Yet 
hardly had they reached the point where they might comfort- 
ably settle down to profit from the elimination of their an- 
cient rivals, when an upstart ship—a ship whose lineage is 
so limited that its entire development lies in the 20th Cen- 
tury—put in its appearance and already has gained such a 
foothold among steam-driven vessels that it seems not 
unlikely that the days of steam upon the sea are numbered. 

These new vessels are the motor ships. In fifteen years 
they have grown from experimental craft to great and power- 
ful liners capable of holding their own against all comers. 
The Aorangi, a great liner of 23,000 tons displacement, now 
operating on the Pacific, and hundreds of other motor ships 
of scores of types point dramatically to the end of the era of 
steam. 


| 
| 


CHAPTER VI 
STEAMSHIPS OF MANY TYPES 


()* THE super-giant ships there were, in 1924, but ten, 
but as one starts looking for smaller ships, he finds 


them much more numerous. Under the British flag alone 


there are about two hundred ships of ten thousand or more 
tons. In the entire world there are about twenty-nine thou- 
sand steamships of five hundred tons or more. 

It is this enormous fleet to which we now must turn in 


order that we may continue our ever-widening story of the 
development of ships. And with this vast fleet we shall 
include the countless thousands of still smaller steamers 


that serve as many thousand masters in a great diversity 
of ways. The ships to which I shall refer in this chapter are 
30 diverse in size, in duties, and in model that it almost 
seems that the only thing they have in common is their 
universal ability to float on the surface of the water. 

_ First there are the mail liners, which differ in few things 
other than size from the huge vessels I have described in 


Chapter V. Andeven in size they are more or less compara- 


ble, as they are from twelve or fifteen thousand tons to 
twenty-five thousand. As a class they are hardly less 
‘uxurious than their greater sisters, and their speed is only 
slightly less. And aside from these two things there is no 
agsential difference, except that they are more numerous 
and are less expensive to build and to operate. And, too, 
they are less expensive to travel on, which is a blessing for 
those of us who cannot afford to pay the rates of the giant 
iners. 
117 


118 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


But other differences are few, and a description of th 
super-liners is, in all details save those I have just mentioned 
a description of these other ships which travel most of th 
main ocean lanes, and girdle the earth with comfortabl 
travel routes. They cross the North Atlantic betwee 
Europe and America. ‘They cross diagonally from the Oh 
World to the wonder cities of Rio de Janeiro, Montevidec 
and Buenos Ayres. They journey through Suez on thei 
trips to the Far East and return. They link China an 
Japan with the United States and Canada, and regularl 
sail from North America to South. For all their compara 
tively limited numbers these ships visit many of the world’ 
important ports, for they are busy—very busy—and on 
never sees them laid up when business is slack, nor do the 
idle about port for lengthy stays. Every minute that i 
possible they are on their way across the oceans, and a yea 
or more ahead their sailing dates are scheduled. These ar 
the ships that sail the great sea lanes almost as regularl 
as the great express trains pass along their tracks. An 
these are the ships that visit the most important ports c 
earth. But important though they are, we can give ther 
no more time. Already we have told about their greate 
counterparts and, too, have said that there are no vité 
differences save size. 

But dropping down the scale of size, whieh is the onl 
yardstick that is ready at hand by which to classify thes 
ships, we come to a more numerous category. Captain Bon 
in ‘The Lookoutman,”’ lists these as “intermediate liners. 
I have vainly endeavoured to find a better way to list then 
but I always come back to his method, and so, I suppost 
must use it. 

The intermediate liners, ranging, perhaps, from five thou 
sand tons to twelve or even fifteen, are of many types an 
are engaged in the performance of many tasks. They vis 


STEAMSHIPS OF MANY TYPES 119 


the lesser ports and the greater with a fine disregard for 
anything save the business on which they are engaged. You 
will find them stopping at Capetown on their way to Au- 
stralia from Liverpool. You will find them at Central 
American ports loading bananas. They visit Guayaquil, 
Havana, Pireeus, and Sydney, and lord it over the smaller 


é: 
UIT Poe 
if Meee teanitiay, 
i} 


ieee 


ee 


: lettin widiaii sti = Saas 


a 





A MAIL LINER 


These ships, while somewhat smaller than the biggest ships and not quite 
so fast, are perhaps the most popular of passenger ships, for their rates are 
not so high as those of the great ships, and their accommodations are more 
or less comparable. 


craft that fill those busy harbours. They fill a less preten- 
tious place in Liverpool and New York, and now and then 
they drop their anchors in tiny mid-pacific ports, or manage, 
with difficulty, to get behind the breakwaters at Ponta Del- 
gada, or churn the tropic water at Mombasa, or anchor at 
Christchurch. 

Some of them are dowdy and old and keep themselves 


120 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


respectable only by many applications of paint, as a man 
who has seen better circumstances will often keep his ancient. 
suit from appearing too unpresentable by the frequent) 
application of the whisk broom and the pressing iron. But 
others of these ships are sparkling in bright woodwork and 
have the smoothest of unscarred sides. Their decks are 
holystoned to the whiteness of a Dutch matron’s kitchen 
table, and their passenger accommodations are beyond 
criticism. 

But the passenger space on these ships is generally some- 
what limited, although many of them are most elaborately 
equipped, and the holds are for ever being emptied or filled 
with the ‘kinds of freight that require rapid shipment, or, 
coming in small parcels, can afford to pay the higher rates 
these ships demand. 

They sail on scheduled dates and have routes of their 
own, which often include more or less numerous ports of 
call, and they all belong to steamship lines of major or minor 
importance which maintain offices or representatives at most 
of the ports that give them their business. The United 
Fruit Company, the ships of which traverse the Caribbean, 
and call at Havana and other major ports in addition to 
many small ones on their voyages from and to New York, 
maintains great banana plantations, which furnish the larger 
portion of the freight these beautiful white ships carry. 
Other lines have other interests, some maintaining a rigid 
aloofness from interests farther from their ships than the 
passengers and freight of the ports at which they call. But 
these ships take one comfortably to many such out-of-the- 
way places as would hardly seem worthy of their attention. 

Again, however, the fundamental differences, save size, 
between these and the great liners are comparatively slight. 
In size, it is true, the difference is vast. It would take a 
round dozen of the smaller intermediate liners to equal m 


| STEAMSHIPS OF MANY TYPES 121 






hoe 
Pa’ 
| es yy a 
| \ ed ) \) 
\\ 






WW eZ | tH 


¢ | H/_\\ 
Eggi ER 
olny Nera | 


ee a 
———— i Uh ae i i aN 


AN AMERICAN INTERMEDIATE LINER 
Ships of this type were developed during the World War. 


bulk the great Majestic. And still these ships are not to be 
called small. They may, perhaps, be four or five hundred 
feet in length. Their speed, it is true, is likely to be far 
less than that of the great ships, for they make, perhaps, 
fifteen or sixteen or eighteen knots, while the great ships 
may reel off twenty-five or more an hour. 

Still, their likenesses, at least superficially, are greater 
than their differences. There is likely to be a difference in 
the number of funnels and masts. Derricks are probably 
more numerous on the smaller ships, for they carry more 
cargo, strange as that may seem, than the great ships. 
The intermediate liner has fewer decks, but that would seem 
at first glance to be because the proportions of the ship are 
such that numerous decks are impossible. The real reason, 
however, is that the cabin accommodations are limited. 


122 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS : 


But a passenger on the intermediate liners will probably | 
be very nearly as comfortable as a passenger on the greatest 
of ships, although he won’t find a Pompeian bath, or a Palm | 
Garden, or any of those super-elegant appurtenances that are. 
common on the greatest ships. But for pleasurable travel 
these ships—or at least the better of these ships—are often 
preferred by experienced travellers, for simple surroundings 
are to many people more pleasant than gorgeous elegance. 

‘Cargo liners,” again using Captain Bone’s classification, 
are of a different type. Their sizes are hardly subject to 
definite restrictions, for, granted that a ship belongs to a 
shipping line and sails on scheduled dates between two or 
more ports and carries such freight as may be brought to 
her, she is a “cargo liner,’’ whether she be of five hundred 
or of fifteen thousand tons. In practice, however, these 
ships range, perhaps, from five to fifteen thousand tons, 
and as they supplement, to some extent, the freight-carrying 
passenger ships of the lines to which they belong, their speed 
is high, for freighters. They make, perhaps, fourteen or 
fifteen or even sixteen knots an hour, and they are likely to 
be fine, wholesome-looking ships, handsome in their lines and 
proud in their appearance. And for this they have some 
reason, for they are the queens of the cargo fleets, and steam 
proudly past the dowdy tramps just as the giant liners and 
the mail liners sweep past the intermediate liners. 

But now we come to what seems to me to be a more roman- 
tic class—the tramp steamers—for they are of the rank and 
file—as the farmer and the workman in our factories are of 
the rank and file. Kings and presidents, members of 
Parliament and of Congress are for ever in the papers, while 
the simple folk who give these people the exalted positions 
they hold seldom see their names in print. And like- 
wise the great liners and, to a lesser degree, the mail and 
intermediate and cargo liners, are often in the public print, | 





STEAMSHIPS OF MANY TYPES _123 


while the tramp steamers, which make possible the conditions 
that have brought the others into being, are seldom written 
of. For, from the point of view of the world’s work, these 
simple ships are mostly vitally important to it, just as the 
“common people” are of more value to a country than are 
the holders of high office. 

And as one finds great differences among a country’s 
“common people” so does one find great differences among 
these “common people”’ of the sea, upon whose sturdiness 
and brawn and energy depends that vast web of commerce 
without which the modern world, as we know it, could not 
exist. 

There is hardly a single important thing that is common 
to all these ships. True, the possession of but one funnel 
seems to be an all but universal attribute, but aside from 





AS 


Pies 
i 8 \ 




















A CARGO LINER 


A cargo liner is a freight ship that sails on scheduled dates and routes, and 
__ ts different in this from a “tramp” which takes what cargoes it can at any time 
_ and to any port. 


} 


124 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


that the streaks of rust that mar their dingy sides are almost 
the only marks they all possess. Sometimes one sees a 
smartly painted tramp, it is true, and she presents a pleasant 
sight, but paint is not tough enough long to stand the wear 
and tear of this service, and coat after coat is scratched by 
piers or heavy freight, or peels beneath the blistering tropic 
sun, or is stained by chemicals or strange cargoes from out- 
landish ports. And even the most careful captain cannot 
prevent the rusty-looking spots, for red lead paint must first 
be applied to the denuded steel, ere it is covered with the 
more seemly black, and while one spot is being made more 
reputable, another is fast losing its thin armour of paint, so 
that rust or red lead seem always to be in evidence. 

But all of this is merely superficial, and appearances, in 
ships as in people, often grossly deceive 

It is perhaps unfortunate that these hard-working ships 
should ever have been called ‘‘ tramps,” for the word suggests 
a lack of respectable employment to people ashore, as well 
as a wandering spirit. Among people ashore a tramp is 
looked down upon because he is content with hardly more 
than enough to eat. He produces nothing. He works at 
nothing. His irresponsibility is ever uppermost, and he is 
sure to do but one single thing—to keep for ever on the move. 
But at sea a tramp is a ship that works most diligently. 
She journeys, it is true, on no set route, and never knows— 
or seldom—for what port she is likely next to steer. But 
she works! Every possible moment of her workaday life she 
works. From the day she has passed her builders’ tests 
and is turned over to her owners she labours as no man or 
no man’s beasts of burden were ever worked. Day and 
night she sails the lonely seas—from Liverpool to Shanghai 
—from Shanghai to Capetown—from Capetown to Sydney 
—from Sydney to New York—from New York, perhaps, to 
Liverpool again—but not for rest. She may, it is true, be 


STEAMSHIPS OF MANY TYPES _125 


docked and repaired, but once afloat again, and noisy, dirty 
streams of dusty coal pour chokingly into her cavernous 
holds, and off she goes again, perhaps to Spain, where her 
coal may be exchanged for a cargo of iron ore, and back she 
sails, to discharge and load again and sail, until, at last, when 
years have passed, she has outgrown her usefulness and is 





A TRAMP STEAMER 


Perhaps the hardest-working machine ever designed by man, and 
undoubtedly the most romantic of all steam-driven ships. 


flung upon a scrap heap where everything of value is taken 


from her hulk and she is forgotten—as workmen sometimes 
are, who through all their lives have laboured, day after 


| 


day, at forge or bench, making for the world some of the 
many things it needs, only to find themselves, when they 


_ are worn out, forgotten and replaced by a man more new. 


These are the ships that make world commerce possible. 


_ These are the ships that carry the world’s goods. These 
are the ships that make a nation’s merchant marine, and 


126 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


these, basically, are the ships that make necessary great 
navies and great ports. Here, then, lies the modern ro- 
mance of the sea. 

The most common type of tramp steamer has a raised 
section amidships, where are placed the bridge, the funnel, 
and a group of houses containing the galley (which is the 
kitchen of a ship), staterooms for her officers, and, perhaps, 
a messroom. Below this lie the boiler and engine rooms. 
Forward of the bridge the deck drops six or eight feet to a 
lower level, and as it nears the bow, it is raised again to a 
little above the altitude of the midship deck. This is still 
called the forecastle, after those weird structures raised at 
the bows of ships in the Middle Ages. Aft the midship 
section the deck drops away as it does forward, and at the 
stern is raised again, until the stern is about level with the 
midship deck. Long since, however, the name sterncastle 
has been dropped. This section is the “poop.” 

Sometimes light bridge-like runways are raised above the 
lower parts of the deck forward and aft of the midship 
section, connecting the bow and stern with the group of deck 
houses amidships, for when the cargo has been stowed these 
ships are deep in the water, and these low decksare but a little 
way above the surface. Once they are at sea, at least in 
heavy weather, “‘lippers,’’ or waves that reach their crests 
just over the low bulwarks, seem for ever to be flooding these 
sections of the ship. And once a storm blows up, these 
decks are often buried beneath tons of solid water, and the 
crew, housed forward in the forecastle, and the captain, who 
sometimes lives astern, would, without the raised runway, 
be more or less marooned and helpless on board the very 
ship they are supposed to operate. 

So diverse in design, in operation, and in equipment are 
these ships that it is impossible to describe them as a unit. 
Their tonnage ranges from a few hundred to ten thousand. 


—— 


STEAMSHIPS OF MANY TYPES __127 


Their crews range from fifteen, perhaps, to fifty. Their 
engines may be reciprocating or turbine. It is usual, 
however, for them to have but one propeller, and their speed 
islow. Seldom do they make less than eight knots an hour, 
and seldom, too, are they able to make as much as fifteen. 
Some are well equipped with useful auxiliary machinery 
for doing much of the heavy work. Others have hardly 
more than a few steam winches installed to aid in loading 
and discharging their strange variety of cargoes. 

A ship may sail from Newport News to Havana with coal, 
and while she is discharging at her berth may receive orders 
to proceed to Caibarien for a cargo of sugar. She grunts 
and shrieks and groans as the Havana stevedores take the 
coal ashore, her crew more or less idle, except for odd jobs, 
for crews of tramps attend to neither the discharging of 
cargoes nor the loading. Once the coal is ashore, however, 
_ the crew has a job. The ship must be fumigated, by order 
of the port authorities, and once fumigated the hatches must 
be lifted off, and the vast caverns into which the new cargo 
is to go must be swept and cleaned with care, for sugar does 
not mix too well with coal dust. And then the ship is off 
- down the Cuban coast, riding high out of water, her propeller 
_ blades splashing half in and half out. If the weather is pleas- 
ant the holds may be cleaned on the way, and once she arrives 
_ off Cay Frances—for she cannot enter the shallow harbour of 
_ Caibarien—her captain orders the motor boat over the side, 
if he has one, and journeys a dozen miles to the little port. 
_ Here he tries to hurry the cargo lighters out to his anchorage, 
_ for it costs money to keep a ship idle. She is paying divi- 
_ dends only when she is on her way from port to port, and it is 
one of a captain’s important duties to do everything he can 
_ to get her on her way again. If his company has an agent 
at Caibarien, which is unlikely, the agent, too, tries to speed 
_ Matters, but Cuban ways tend to slowness, and it is likely 


128 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


to be a day or two before a couple of barges are brought 
alongside, with a gang of Negro stevedores who slowly 
commence their operations. The derricks are rigged beside 
each hatch and the great bags come aboard in sixes or eights 
and are dropped into what seem to be the bottomless pits 
below the yawning openings. Far below, another group of 
stevedores cast the tackle off, and one by one the bags are 
packed, so as to fill the hold to the exclusion of a cubic 
inch of space not utilized. All day they load, and all night, 
for as one barge is emptied another appears. Relief crews of 
stevedores appear, and under a cluster of lights hanging 
from bridge or mast they labour—their toil seemingly end- 
less, but gradually, nevertheless, approaching its conclusion. 
Lower and lower the ship sinks into the water. Her pro- 
peller blades disappear, and down and down she goes. No 
longer is she the wall-sided affair that anchored a day or two 
before. And finally, as the bags reach up and up to the 
combings of the hatch, she is down once more, until her 
Plimsoll mark, which is cut in her side by Lloyd’s to show 
how deep she is permitted to ride, is washed by every wave. 
A few more bags—the last big barge is empty—the last bit 
of space in her great holds is filled and she is ready for her 
voyage to Brooklyn. 

Once more the crew becomes active. Girders are lowered 
into their places across the twenty-foot-wide hatches. Great 
planks cover the opening, and several huge tarpaulins are 
unrolled and spread above the planks, for cargoes must be 
guarded against salt water. These coverings are carefully 
put in place while the stokers raise the boiler pressure once 
more, and ere the last of the preparations is completed 
another voyage has been begun. 


There are many other types of ships that busy themselves 
about the sea. One of these is the oil tanker, a ship built 


STEAMSHIPS OF MANY TYPES 129 



































AN OIL TANKER 


These ships have come to the seas in very recent years. They are used only for 
the transportation of oil, and are owned largely by the great oil companies. 


for but a single purpose. These are owned by the big oil 
companies whose products come from Mexico or the Dutch 
East Indies, or, originating in the United States, are sold 
to countries not so fortunate as to have oil wells of their own. 


An oil tanker has an appearance more or less its own, 


although the great carriers of ore and grain on the Great 
_ Lakes are very similar. 


On these ships the engines and boilers are in the stern, 
and sometimes, too, the bridge is there, with the funnel 


_ rising from behind it, in a position which few sailors can ac- 


cept as normal. Sometimes, again, the bridge and a small 
deck house are amidships. On these tankers the propelling 


machinery is in the stern in order that the cargo may be 


insulated to the greatest possible extent from the fires. 


Incidentally, too, it is the empty tanker that requires the 
most care, for just as an empty gasolene tin will explode 
_while one filled to overflowing with gasolene will not, so the 


130 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


empty tanker, reeking with the gas left by the oil it car- 
ries, is more apt to explode. 

The turret steamer falls into almost any category. It is 
built in order to save money on certain port and canal dues 
and other taxes, and its appearance is perhaps the weirdest 
of that of any ship, save, perhaps, the antediluvian whale- 
backs once so common on the Great Lakes. Below the 
water line these turret steamers are much the same as other 
freighters, but from there up they are vastly different. 
Just above the water line their sides are turned in until they 
are almost a deck. These “decks” run forward nearly to 
the bow and aft almost to the stern. But the central portion 
of the ship from bow to stern is raised ten or a dozen feet 
above these strange side “‘decks,’’ which in reality are not 
decks at all, but only sections of the sides of these strange 
hulls. The turret ships have few, if any, advantages over 
more normal ships, their only purpose being to save what 
money they can in tolls that ships less strangely designed are 
forced to pay. The turret ship is only the naval architect’s 
way of making it possible for the ship’s owners to take ad- 
vantage of certain technicalities in wording. ‘They are few 
in number and are of minor importance. 


In these days of large shipments it does not usually pay 
owners to send ships of small tonnage on long sea voyages. 
Few steamers of less than five or six hundred tons make 
voyages across the Atlantic, for instance. ‘Time was, and 
not so long ago, when a five-hundred-ton clipper sailed half- 
way round the world, but steam and steel have made deep- 
sea cargo ships much larger than they were, and the smaller 
fry are kept in the coasting trades or busy themselves in the 
Mediterranean or other more or less landlocked waters. 
These “‘coasters”’ seem to be as diverse in design as naval 
architects are capable of producing. Every coast has de- 


STEAMSHIPS OF MANY TYPES a4; 


veloped its own particular type, although, of course, the 
fundamentals of their construction are basic and permit of 
little change. Many of them cross the North Sea, and con- 
sequently must be seaworthy, for the North Sea has a habit 
of being rough. The Irish Sea is filled with them—of many 
shapes and sizes. European ports seem always crowded 
with these little ships, which steam about their business 
with a sort of jaunty cocksureness that is amusing in smooth 
waters. But they lose that jauntiness when they poke their 
noses into the ocean swells, and as they roll and pitch along 
their way they have a worried but determined air. Europe 
is the home of more of them, perhaps, than all of the rest of 
the world combined. America uses schooners or sends out 








Al 


rill 
‘ = 


AEE, 
LL 
SZ 
022 Z 
AN 5 ! 
aes : i 
Saiey z My 
x \ 
y z 





aor 
rene 


an 


A TURRET STEAMER 


These strange vessels are PE aaah rare, and seem to be passing away 
entirely. 


B32 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


ocean-going tugs with long tows of ancient ships once proud 
under their own canvas, but now converted into ith with 
stubby masts and sawed-off bowsprits. 

Now and then one sees an ocean-going car ferry, carrying 
trains of box cars across some narrow arm of the sea. A 
notable one of these—the Henry M. Flagler—runs from Key 
West to Havana, carrying American freight trains to Cuba 
and Cuban trains back, in order that the freight need not be 
handled at each end: from car to ship, and again from ship to 
car. 

The tourist, too, is sure, sooner or later, to travel on fast 
express steamers that cross similar narrow straits. The 
cross-channel steamers between Calais and Dover, the small 
ships from Copenhagen to Norway and Sweden, and others, 
are of this type. Their runs are short, and their schedules 
often are set to meet trains. Consequently, they are power- 
ful, speedy, and sometimes most uncomfortable. But being 
meant for passengers, they are attractive, in their way. 
Sturdy, self-reliant, fast—they are perfectly adapted to the 
work that they perform. 

Another type of vessel is the passenger ship that runs be- 
tween ports not widely separated on the same coast. The 
United States has many of these. The ships running be- 
tween Boston and New York are fast and well equipped. 
The lounges and dining saloons are handsome, and the state- 
rooms, while they are small, are thoroughly comfortable. 
These ships are popular, and many travellers prefer the all- 
night ride on them to spending five hours on the train. Other 
ships run from New York to Norfolk; from New York to 
Charleston, Savannah, and Jacksonville. Others still make 
the longer voyage from New York to New Orleans. On the 
West Coast similar ships run regularly from Los Angeles and 
San Francisco to Portland and Seattle and return. Every 
continent has some ships in similar services, and they often 


STEAMSHIPS OF MANY TYPES 133 


reach ports which have no important land communications 
system. Such ships connect Japan and Korea; Ceylon and 
India; ports along the African coast; Marseilles and Tunis; 
and run on countless other routes. They are comfortable 
for short voyages, but many of them would not do well at 
transoceanic work, for in their size and their accommoda- 
tions they are not comparable to the great ocean liners. 


So far all the ships I have mentioned, save the Great Lakes 
freighters, float in salt water. But rivers and lakes the world 
over are often busy with ships, some of them of such size as 
to place them in a class with ships intended for the deep sea. 

The greatest fleet of ships in the world on fresh water is 
the fleet that busies itself on the Great Lakes. During the 
winter these lakes are frozen and the whole fleet is laid up, 
which necessitates unusual activity for the rest of the year 
in order that they may pay their way. From Duluth, on 
Lake Superior, to Buffalo, on Lake Erie, these ships sail 
back and forth, deeply laden with the ore of Minnesota or 
the grain of the great Northwest. Piers specially designed 
to load the ore carriers pour huge streams of ore into their 
holds, and within a few hours of their arrival at Duluth the 
ships are on their way back to Gary or Cleveland or Erie. 
At these ports the cargoes are taken from their holds at such 
a speed as is not equalled at any salt-water port in the world. 

The freighters of the Great Lakes make up the greatest 
part of the fleet, of course, but passenger ships comparable 
to almost any of the “‘intermediate liners” in the world sail 
regularly from half-a-dozen of these inland ports. Car 
ferries, too, are used by the railroads to take great freight 
trains across the lakes in order to save the land trip around. 
Ice-breakers, also, are used to keep open channels through 
the ice in order that ships may sail in winter. The ice- 
breakers are powerful ships whose bows are so cut away as to 


134 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


make it possible for them to ride up on the ice, as their 
powerful propellers drive them along. ‘The ice is broken by 
the weight of the ship, the bow of which is built of excep- 
tional strength to stand such rough usage. Such ships are 
used, too, in the Baltic, in Russia, and in Siberia, but little 
use is found for them elsewhere, and they are rare. 

But other inland waters have developed other types of 
ships. ‘The Rhine, because of its rapid current, has neces- 
sitated the building of fast steamers able to make headway 
against it—fast, small steamers that slowly make their way 
up stream and scurry rapidly down, laden with passengers 
or with freight, depending on the service for which they have 
been built. 

The Seine, particularly at Paris, has a most attractive 
type of passenger boat which has always reminded me of a 
Fifth Avenue bus mounted on a hull. ‘True, their lines are 
better than those of the bus, but their whole appearance, 
nevertheless, suggests a bus. ‘They are long and narrow, 
sharp and fast, and carry many passengers along that his- 
toric river beneath the many bridges. 

River boats in America are vastly different. The early 
Mississippi River boats were scows with stern wheels. These 
developed into strange boats with decks supported by what 
seemed to be fearfully weak timbers. They were high and 
wide, with blunt low bows and expansive forward decks. 
They usually possessed two funnels, rising high above the 
topmost deck and standing beside each other. The tops of 
these, and every place else on the boat that lent itself to 
decoration, were decorated with gewgaws and scrollwork. 
The pilot house stood high above the topmost deck, and in it 
was a steering wheel that sometimes was so great in diam- 
eter that it was swung through a slot cut in the deck, in 
order that the pilot, who was a vastly important person, 
could handle the spokes. 


STEAMSHIPS OF MANY TYPES 135 


These ships burned wood, and great was the rivalry be- 
_tween them, and great the races that were run. 
_ Mark Twain has told the story of these picturesque boats, 
and his story is their history. It could not be improved 
upon. 

But the famous old steamboats of the Mississippi are gone. 
_A few of the species still ply up and down, and some find 





A WHALEBACK 


A strange type of cargo steamer once common on the American Great 
Lakes, but gradually disappearing. 


their way up the Ohio and other tributaries, but the life 


seems gone from them. The romance of the Mississippi 


steamboat is dead. 


But a type of river steamer still in use is the one so common 


on the Hudson. Huge ships these are, with many decks, of 
great breadth, for often they are side-wheelers and their decks 
_are carried out to the outside of the paddle boxes or, if they 
are propeller driven, still their decks reach out over the 


136 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS | 


water. Deck on deck is piled one upon another, until the 
larger of these steamers may sail from New York to Pough- 
keepsie and West Point with as many passengers as the 
Majestic is equipped to carry. But they are not to be com-| 
pared to the Majestic any more than a trolley car is to be 
compared to a Pullman. 

This chapter is a hodgepodge, and contains as great an 
assortment of goods as a country store, so I may, perhaps, 
be permitted to jump from the river steamers, to which ] 
have done scant justice, to the tugs and other harbour craft 
that are occasionally to be seen about the many-decked 
river steamers at such a port as New York. 

Perhaps the ferries are most in evidence as they shuttle 
back and forth from Manhattan to Jersey City and Hoboken, 
to Weehawken and Fort. Lee, to Staten and Governor’s 
islands, and to half a dozen slips in Brooklyn. 

These ferries are powerful vessels, and are capable of 
getting quickly under way. They have no bows or sterns— 
or, if you prefer, each end is bow or stern, depending on the 
direction the boat is travelling at the moment. The two 
ends, to make it plain, are identical. Each is round on deck. 
Each has a sharp “‘cut water’ over which the round-ended 
deck projects. Each has a rudder, and each a propeller, 
save the old-fashioned ones—of which there are a few still in 
existence—that are driven by side paddle-wheels. The ends 
of these ferries are rounded and the slips at which they dock 
are so constructed as to fit the bows perfectly—so perfectly, 
in fact, that the automobiles and trucks with which the 
ferry is generally crowded drive ashore without a gangplank. 

In order to make simpler the task of docking these nimble 
craft two great rows of piles are driven into the harbour mud 
so that the ferries, entering between the outermost ends of 
these two “‘fences,’’ where they are at some distance from: 
each other, are led directly to the slip by the converging 


STEAMSHIPS OF MANY TYPES _137 


-> ye i fe 





A GREAT LAKES FREIGHT CARRIER 


This type of ship is eliminating the whaleback on the Great Lakes, and is 
used largely to transport ore and grain. 


lines of piles. Once the ferry’s nose has touched the slip, 
great hawsers are passed aboard and are made fast, where- 
upon special windlasses on the slip take up the slack and the 
boat is made fast, in hardly more time than it takes to tell 
of it. These ferries are sometimes of considerable size, but 
none of them are comparable in tonnage to anything more 
than the smallest of deep-sea steamers. 

In a modern harbour there is another type of boat more 
numerous than ferries, and, from the point of view of the 
deep-sea sailor, more important. This is the tug. 

__ A tug is a towboat, and once a sea-going ship has reached 
a harbour, she is largely dependent on that harbour’s tugs. 
In appearance, at least, European tugs are very different 
from American. 

_ In British and German and French ports, and elsewhere 
on the continent, one sees many paddle-wheel tugs—a thing 


138 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


unknown, or nearly so, in America. American tugs are univer- 
sally propeller boats, except on shallow rivers, where paddle- 
wheel steamboats sometimes are made to do the work of tugs, 

An American tug is a busy-looking boat. Her bow is 
fairly high, her deck slopes aft in a rather marked curve. 
Her stern is low. A deck house extends from the “towing 
bits,’ or heavy built-in posts to which the towline is made 
fast, up to within ten or a dozen feet of the bow. This deck 
house is not high—hardly higher than a man’s head—and 
contains a galley and a mess room, besides entrances to the 
boiler and engine rooms. On top of this, at its forward end, 
is the wheel house, as high as the deck house on which it sits. 
Astern of the wheel house is a huge funnel for so small a boat, 
and astern of that sits a lifeboat, resting in its “‘chocks.” 

But the surprise comes if an inquisitive observer goes to a 
local shipyard and sees one of these small steamboats in a 
floating dock with her bulky underbody visible. What 
stands above the surface seems but little compared with 
what is below. She may draw eight or ten or more feet. 
Her body lines are very full, and at her stern is mounted a 
propeller that seems almost large enough for a good-sized 
freighter. And it is, for these boats have not only them- 
selves to propel; they must meet incoming ships which are 
more or less helpless to direct their movements in such limited 
Spaces as are available in a harbour. If the new arrival be 
small, one tug can readily place her beside her pier. If the 
ship be the Majestic or the Leviathan, then a dozen or more 
tugs must push against her mighty side, or puff great clouds 
of steam as they strain at great hawsers before the giant is 
safely at her berth. 

Every harbour needs these little workers, and their work 
is important, but there are other ships whose work is of a 
different sort, and even more important. These are the 
dredges that keep a harbour’s channels open, or cut new 


STEAMSHIPS OF MANY TYPES 139 


ones or widen the ones already there. I have not the space 
in which to go into a description of these grubbers in the 
mud, but I can mention a few of their more salient points. 

There are several kinds. A suction dredge lowers a great 
pipe into the harbour mud and pumps great quantities of 
mud-charged water to the surface. This is run into tanks 
where most of the mud settles while the water runs over the 
‘top. In some cases it is possible for the pipe carrying this 
‘mud and water to be led ashore where a low spot is to be filled 
or where the mud is needed for some other reason. Here 
the water trickles gradually away, and the troublesome mud 
that had been silting up a channel is converted, perhaps, 
‘into valuable city property. 

Another type of dredge carries an endless belt on which are 
great ladle-shaped containers, called “buckets.’’ One end 
of this belt is lowered to the bottom. The belt is set in 
‘motion, and each gigantic “‘bucket”’ dumps the mud of the 
harbour bottom into a great ‘“‘well’ built into the ship 
which is capable of carrying a startling quantity. 

There are other types of less importance than these, but al- 
‘ready this chapter has grown beyond the length assigned to it 
and I must bring it to aclose. ‘To pretend for amoment that 

[have amply described the ships I have mentioned would be, 
of course, ridiculous. I have done hardly more than men- 
‘tion the more important and more picturesque types of 
‘steamships that exist in the world to-day. A book could be 
written on any one of them, and my greatest hope is that I 
may interest a few readers who will go to other volumes 
more complete than mine, in order to learn more of some 
phase or another of this fascinating subject. Should I be so 
fortunate I shall be content, for one volume cannot do more 
than outline what can be found in countless others that have 
specialized on a thousand phases of the subject | am attempt- 
ing to discuss. 


CHAPTER VII 


SHIPS OF WAR 


UCH of the story of ships is contained in the story of 
ships of war, which, from time immemorial, have 
been vital factors in the lives of nations. The Egyptians 
fought battles on the sea. The Greeks saved their civiliza- 
tion from the armies of Xerxes by defeating the ships of the 
Persians at Salamis. Rome defeated Carthage because 
Rome secured the upper hand on the sea. It is true that 
much of the story of the Punic Wars is the story of Hannibal 
and Hamilcar, but while Hannibal marched his army from 
Spain across the Pyrenees, across France, across the Alps, 
and finally into Italy, where he spent years harrying the 
land, Carthage owed her downfall to the ships of Rome, as 
Hannibal owed his final defeat by Scipio Africanus to those 
ships. Similarly Napoleon, two thousand years later, owed 
the collapse of his plans not so much to the defeats he suf- 
fered on land as the defeats he suffered on the sea at the hands 
of Nelson and the British Navy. 

It is not, however, within the province of this book to 
discuss wars and battles on the sea. The person interested 
in that important subject should read Admiral A. T. Mahan’s 
“The Influence of Sea Power upon History”’ in order to gain 
a clear picture of the great phases of that subject. But all 
of this is outside the range of this book, which deals only 
with the types of ships and their development. 

The first warships of which history gives any account 
were those of the Egyptians. They differed little from the 
other ships of the time except in having affixed to their bows 

140 


SHIPS OF WAR 141 


ametal ram. This, however, was well above water. When 
these ships were in action the sail was rolled up and made 
fast by loops of line to the upper yard. They were driven 
by large paddles, and were steered, as well, by paddles, many 
being required. Egyptologists tell us that the Egyptians, be- 
tween 3000 and 1000 B. C., fought occasional naval battles 
with people as far distant as those of Sicily, for Egypt seemed 
to have a fascination for all the Mediterranean peoples even 
of this early day, and occasional forays were made against 
the Egyptian coast. 

The Phoenicians came next as a sea-going people, and it 

















AN ENGLISH WARSHIP OF THE TIME OF HENRY V 


__ By the time this ship was built hulls had grown considerably in size over what 
they had been at the time of William the Conqueror, and the era of lavish deco- 
ration was well under way. The numerous decks of this ship were not unusual 
Sor the time. 

' 


| 


| 
} 


142 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


was they who so greatly developed ships. So little, however, 
is known of Phoenician ships that it is necessary, in this 
hurried account, to pass them by in order to take up the 
Greek ships of which many records are still extant. 

In Chapter I, I have mentioned the galleys, but there are 
many things concerning them upon which it is interesting to 
enlarge. 

These ancient war vessels are divided into two major 
types—“‘aphract,”’ or those which had no protection for the 
topmost tier of rowers, and “‘cataphract,” or those that had 
a raised bulwark which shielded them from the sight and 
arrows of the enemy. These two words mean, literally, 
‘““unfenced”’ and “‘fenced.”” In other words, the cataphract 
ships had a “‘fence”’ built up above their sides to shield the 
oarsmen, while on the aphract ships this “fence”? was not 
installed. Both these types had upper and lower decks, al- 
though the cataphract type was higher than the other. 

The oars used on these ships were not so large as one might 
think. On a trireme, or three-banked ship, the oars of the 
upper bank were about fourteen feet long; the next lower 
oars were about ten and a half feet, and the oars of the lowest 
bank were about seven and a half feet long. Even the 
topmost oars on the “tessereconteres,’ or forty-banked 
ship, which some questionable authorities mention as having 
been built, are said to have been but fifty-three feet long, 
but as the seats of the rowers are said to have been two feet 
apart vertically it is difficult to see how a fifty-three foot 
oar, of which perhaps a third was inside the ship, could 
have reached to the water. But these forty-banked ships 
sound more like imaginary craft than like real ships. 

In the cataphract ships the lower deck was only about a foot 
above the water line. Below this deck was the ballast, and 
through the deck were cut a number of hatches through 
which buckets could be lowered in order to bail out the al- 


SHIPS OF WAR 143 


most ever-present bilge water, for these ships, particularly 
when they were subjected to the strains coincident to sailing 
in a seaway, were more than likely to leak at an uncomforta- 
bly rapid rate. 

_ The backbone of these ships was a heavy keel, below 
which was fitted a false keel, used, apparently, to take the 


| 
t 
J 





A BRITISH LINE-OF-BATTLE SHIP, 1790 


This awkward ship is one of the type that made up the great fleets 
that fought, for instance, at Trafalgar. Nelson’s flagship, the Victory, 
is of this type. 


vear that resulted from hauling the ships up on to the beach. 
| Above the keel a keelson, similar to the keelsons of to- 
lay, was fitted, strengthening the keel and serving, also, as a 
‘trengthener to the ribs which were fastened beneath it. 

_ The bows of these ships were very strongly constructed, 
or battle tactics called for the use of the ram. The ram, 


144 _ SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


instead of being above the water, as it was on the older 
Egyptian ships, was at the water level, and was strengthened 
by the heavy timbers which formed the stem. _ In order to 
strengthen the hull still more, and to prevent as much as 
possible the strain of ramming from springing the seams, 
strong cables were wound once or twice around the whole 
hull from bow to stern. These were drawn up with levers 
and bound the ship tightly together, particularly as the 
cables shrank when they were wet. All these precautions 
were essential, for the ram on these ships was about ten feet 
long, and was seconded by a somewhat shorter ram above 
the water line. 

The Athenian triremes were all about the same size— 
about one hundred and thirty feet long—and most of their 
equipment was standardized so that it was really inter- 
changeable. The crews of these ships numbered a few 
more than two hundred. ‘The rowers numbered one hundred 
and seventy, and there were ten or a dozen marines and 
about a score of seamen. 

In building these triremes the frame was first set up and 
the ribs were covered on both sides with planking. Then 
around the outside of the ship at the water line a heavy 
timber was attached which, at the forward end, was carried 
out to form the ram, which was heavily sheathed with metal. 
A little above this strengthening timber there was another 
one similarly built, ending in the secondary ram, which 
sometimes had at its end a metal sheep’s head. Sometimes 
a third line of timbers was placed above this. 

Running from bow to stern on both sides just above the 
topmost oars was a narrow platform, built out about two 
feet wide from the side of the ship. The ribs as they con- 
tmued upward from this point curved inward, and their 
ends supported the cross beams that bound the ship together 
over the rowers’ heads and also served to support the deck. 


eS - 





THE AMERICAN FRIGATE CONSTITUTION 


_ This ship set a new style in frigates, for she was the largest and most 
heavily armed frigate of her time when she was launched. She is still to be 
seen at Boston, and seems but a little thing in contrast with ships of to-day. 


Jn this deck the marines, or heavily armed warriors, were 
slaced in battle, while over their heads was stretched a stout 
wning of leather to protect them from the enemies’ arrows. 
“he runways at the sides served as passageways and were 
ised by the sailors in working the ship. 

_ At the stern there were several steps in the deck elevating 
t gradually above the midship deck. Here the officer in 
ommand was stationed near the helmsman, who was second 
1 command, and who steered the ship by a cleverly arranged 
‘air of oars—one on each side, connected and operated by 
opes and pulleys. 

_The bow was decorated by an erection sometimes shaped 
ke a swan’s neck which was a continuation of the stem. 
‘he stern also had a highly raised timber running up and 


| 
' 


146 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS | 


curving forward over the helmsman. These ships usually 
carried two masts, each spreading a single square sail, but 
sail was not carried in action. Often, as a matter of fact, 
the sails and the heavier spars were left ashore if a battle 
was imminent. 

These galleys, for many centuries, were light craft, meant 
for speed, but as more strength was demanded in order to 
make possible hulls that could withstand the shock of ram- 
ming, the ships became heavier and heavier, which, in turn, 
demanded more oarsmen, which, again, brought larger 
ships into being, until, when Rome became the mistress of 
the sea, five-banked ships had become the standard, and the 
three-banked ships were relegated to a second place. 

Then Rome invented the “‘corvus”’ or great hinged gang- 
plank with its heavy barbed end. This gangplank was 
swung at the forward end of the ship and was loosely hinged 
to the deck, being kept upright by a tackle holding it to the 





A STEAM FRIGATE—THE U. 8S. S. HARTFORD 
Which was used in the American Cwil War by Admiral Farragut. 


_ 


SHIPS OF WAR 147 





THE MONITOR 


The first armoured ship to mount a turret. This is the ship that fought 
with the Merrimac the first battle between armoured ships. 


mast. When an enemy’s ship was approached the Romans 
did not attempt to ram, but ran alongside, let go the tackle, 
and the heavy corvus fell to the enemy’s deck, where its 
metal barb fastened itself in the deck planks. Thereupon, the 
soldiers, with whom the Romans crowded the decks of their 
ships, rushed across and the sea battle became a mélee. 

_ For nearly two hundred years these heavy ships were the 
“battleships” of the Roman fleet. But at the Battle of 
Actium, in 31 B. C., Mark Antony’s ships, which were of 
this type, were soundly beaten by light, swift two-banked 
ships called the Liburnian biremes. 

Thereupon these Liburnians became the most important 
ships of war, and later grew into the great galleys of the 
Middle Ages. The later development, however, tended to 
he use of one bank, while the oars grew longer and longer 


148 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


until they reached such size that several men were used on 
each—sometimes aS many as seven men being employed on 
a single oar. This form of rowed war vessel was in more 
or less common use, principally in the Mediterranean, until 
the beginning of the 17th Century. 

In the north of Europe the Viking influence was felt plainly 
for many years, but finally it was outgrown, or practically 
outgrown, largely, perhaps, because of the introduction of 
the raised forecastles and sterncastles, and the introduction 
of more highly developed rigging. 

During the Crusades most of the fleets consisted largely of 
merchant ships, which were more or less converted into war 
vessels by the addition of raised castles. These castles were, 
perhaps, of Roman origin, for the old Roman ships some- 
times had somewhat similar contrivances at bow and stern. 

The invention of gunpowder brought about many changes 
in ship design. At first the guns were small and were 
pivoted in the rails, as they were on Columbus’s ships, but 
later, as larger cannon came into use, a new arrangement 
of them became necessary. 

Galleys found it difficult to use many cannon, for they 
could not be mounted amidships, that part of these ships 
being crowded with rowers, who, by the way, were now 
seldom below deck. Guns, consequently, had to be mounted 
at bow and stern, where only a few could be installed. This, 
then, was one reason for the decline of galleys, for ships 
driven exclusively by sail were able to mount cannon on 
deck, where many of them could be carried and fired over 
the sides. 

As ships increased in size it became possible to mount 
cannon below deck and to cut portholes through which they 
could fire. 

It was along these lines that warships next progressed, 
until, at the end of the 18th Century, the line-of-battle ships 


were great unwieldy affairs with three gun decks below, on 
which were mounted a hundred guns. Earlier ships had been 
built which had carried even more guns than this, but the 
guns had been smaller and consequently less effective. 

_ For those interested in the details of the development of 
warships from the time of the introduction of gunpowder 
down to the beginning of steam I recommend two books— 
“The Royal Navy,” by W. Laird Clowes, and “Ancient 
and Modern Ships,” by Sir G. C. V. Holmes. I have the 
space to describe only the final forms that the larger ships 
took ere the introduction of steam and steel changed radically 
the design of all naval ships. 

At the end of the 18th Century and the beginning of the 


SHIPS OF WAR 149 
| 
: 








THE MERRIMAC 


An ironclad built by the Confederates during the American Cwil War. This 
ship proved how superior to wooden ships armoured ships could be. She was 
armed with a ram with which she sank the Cumberland, and her armour amply 

_ protected her from the enemy’s guns. 


150 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


19th the greatest warships were called line-of-battle ships, 
They were great unwieldy affairs, slow and cumbersome 
under sail, and were meant only to take the shock of battle 
when rival fleets met. Their sides were high, and below 
the main deck were three gun-decks, each carrying many 
cannon that fired through square ports cut in the sides, 
Sometimes, if the wind was abeam, as it generally was during 
an engagement, the lower ports on the side away from the 
wind could not be opened because the deck was so low that 
the “‘list”’ of the ship would have allowed the water to enter, 
perhaps in such quantities as to sink her. Gradually, how- 
ever, this lower deck was raised until all the guns on the“‘lee” 
side could be used except in heavy weather. 

The Victory, Nelson’s flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar, 
was a typical line-of-battle ship, and in the hearts of Britons 
she occupies much the same place as with Americans the 
frigate Constitution occupies. These two ships—the one a 
line-of-battle ship and the other a frigate—are of the two 
types that, toward the close of the era of sail, were the most 
important ships of naval powers. They occupied in their 
day positions similar to those occupied by the battleship 
and the cruiser of to-day. In describing these two particular 
vessels, then, I shall be describing not merely two outstand- 
ing ships, which, fortunately, are carefully preserved by the 
countries for which they fought, but shall also be describing 
the two most important types. 

The Victory was built in 1765. She is 186 feet long, 
52 feet wide, and her tonnage is 2,162. She carried 100 guns 
on her three gun-decks, and is, in rig, a ship—that is, she 
carries three masts, spreading square sails, the mast farthest 
aft carrying as its lowest sail a spanker. Her head sails— 
that is, the sails at the bow—were jibs set between the fore- 
mast and the bowsprit, which was elongated by the addition 
of a jib boom and a flying jib boom. f 


SHIPS OF WAR 151 


Her shape is clumsy, her sides are high, but the highly 
raised forecastle and sterncastle are entirely missing. <A 
section of the bow is called the forecastle, but only the name 
is left of the earlier raised structure from which the name 
came. Astern there is a slight sign of what, centuries be- 
fore, had been the sterncastle, for there is a raised deck, 





A TORPEDO BOAT 


About the time of the Spanish-American War these boats were common in 
' the navies of the world. Now they are eliminated, and their successors 
, are the torpedo-boat destroyers, now called destroyers. 


called the quarter-deck, in evidence. ‘The stern itself is a 
highly ornamental affair, fitted with many windows and 
with much scrollwork, and, at least in the eyes of the present 
day, i is anything but nautical in appearance. 

_ This high-sided, bluff-bowed craft carried about seven 
hundred men in her crew, although where they kept them- 
selves is, to the average person of to-day, a mystery. They 
slept, of course, in hammocks, and these were lashed to their 
hooks between decks. So thick were they that when the 


152 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


crew had turned in the whole deck looked like a cave filled 
with strange huge bats hanging parallel to the ceiling. 

The guns on these ships were crude affairs. They were 
muzzle loaders, of course, and were generally cast of brass or 
iron. They were mounted on awkward wooden carriages 
which were set on four small wheels. But such a weighty 
implement mounted on wheels needed much careful atten- 
tion to keep it tightly secured when the ship, once outside 
her harbour, ceaselessly rolled from side to side, even in an 
almost glassy sea, and, in a seaway, rolled and pitched and 
rolled again, until, should one of these wheeled monsters 
have broken its fastenings, it might readily have become 
more dangerous than an outside enemy. Victor Hugo's 
powerful description of such a scene in “Ninety-three” 
presents a graphic picture of the danger that such a misfor- 
tune would bring with it. 

These heavy-wheeled cannon were made fast in their 
places, each with a square port through which it could fire; 
and a gun-deck with thirty or more of these polished jugger- 
nauts lined up along its two sides, with the decks holy-stoned, 
and with the gear of every description carefully stowed in 
place, had a most businesslike appearance. 

In battle, however, with the air thick with powder smoke, 
with sanded decks and wounded men, with piles of ammuni- 
tion and half-naked gunners apparently gone mad, with 
splinters split from oaken beams and gaping holes where the 
the enemy’s guns had wrought their havoc—then the deck 
was bedlam. Roars of cannon, fired in broadsides, orders, 
oaths, and shrieks of dying wretches—stabs of fire as the 
cannon belched, glowing matches in the hands of powder- 
blackened men, messengers running here and there, officers 
standing by, strained, intent, and heedless of everything 
save the guns they commanded—there was a scene worthy 
of the pen of Dante. 


SHIPS OF WAR 153 





H. M. S. DREADNAUGHT 


The first all-big-gun ship, and the one that gave its name to present-day battle- 
ships, which are universally called dreadnaughts or superdreadnaughts. 


_ And such a sight as a fleet of these ships presented as it 
grappled with a rival fleet perhaps equally strong. Two 
lines, each of a score or more of these awkward giants— 
first they manceuvre for position, each strung out in single 
file, each with sails set, each silent, each watchful, each 
anxious. Slowly they converge. Closer and closer they 
come, their ports open, the black muzzles of the cannon pro- 
truding. On the gun-decks men are waiting quietly, peering 
out, waiting for the command to fire. Above, on the quarter 
decks, groups of officers with their awkward field glasses, 
watching the enemy, watching the flagship. Aloft, in the 
Masts, groups of sharpshooters with muskets ready, waiting 
for an opportunity to bring down the officers and men on 
the decks of the enemy’s ships. 

Closer the ships sail and closer still, still noiseless save for 


} 





154 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


the gurgle of water at the bows and the sounds of the rigging. 
Then on the flagship a string of flags is run up and the attack- 
ing fleet changes its course sharply toward the enemy. 
Another string of flags and a crash of guns—the battle is 
on.» Great clouds of smoke, more cannon roars—the enemy 
has answered. Closer still, and closer, until each ship is 
alongside one of the opposing fleet. Grappling irons are 
thrown over the rail, and the two fleets have become a long 
tangled row of duelling pairs, each locked tightly to its ad- 
versary, their sides grinding together, their rigging tangled. 
An hour, perhaps, of awful havoc. ‘The line is broken, ships 
drifting here and there. Broken masts and spars clutter 
the decks. A ship catches fire and her magazine explodes, 
and as she sinks the victor cuts the lines that bind the two 
together and stands on to help a friend. An hour or two— 
maybe a little more—and the victory is won. History is 
made—perhaps Trafalgar has been fought and the whole 
world will feel the effect. Such were the duties of the line- 
of-battle ships. 

But the frigates were built for a different work. They 
were the cruisers of a hundred years ago. They were the 
commerce destroyers, the raiders. A frigate was a ship 
which carried guns on the main deck and on one gun-deck 
below. Sometimes they sailed with other ships, but more 
often played their game alone. The Constitution was one 
of these, and an important one. Not only did she win 
battles: also she affected the design of ships. 

She was launched in 1797, and was, actually, an improve- 
ment on the frigates of the day. She was 204 feet long, 43.6 
feet broad, and she carried thirty 24-pounders on her gun- 
deck, twenty-two 32-pound carronades on the quarter deck 
and forecastle deck, besides three “‘bow chasers”’ or long 
guns for use when pursuing a fleeing ship. Thus she had 
fifty-five guns (although later this was reduced) and conse- 


SHIPS OF WAR | 155 


quently far outclassed foreign frigates of the day. They 
earried from thirty-two to fifty guns, and these of lighter 
weight. While the main battery of the Constitution con- 
sisted of 24-pounders, foreign frigates used 18-pounders. 
A 24-pound shot is naturally more effective than an 18-pound 
shot from the same type of gun. 

_ But not only was the Constitution heavily armed. She 
was built of timbers of about the size of those used in line- 
of-battle ships, and so was much stronger than other frigates. 
As a matter of fact, she so outclassed the frigates of the 
British Navy that several line-of-battle ships were cut down 
until, technically, they became frigates, in order that they 
might meet her on more favourable terms. 

_ The Constitution was a more graceful ship than the Victory, 
as frigates, as a class, were more graceful than all line-of- 
battle ships. They required more speed, and so had finer 
imes. Their sides were not so high, their bows less bluff, 


ies Sieg 
ee -S raed 
ee ey et 
_ FEEDS > 
e ate 
a 
ee ZZ del eee > cB 
a ys y ee sa se 
- , 
- Z 


-_= —_— 
“ai 
if ; eg La 
Sa pepe 
x el a pe 





jacsestil 


A SUBMARINE 





156 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


their sterns more finely designed. Line-of-battle ships 
were hardly more than floating wooden forts, carrying as 
many guns as possible. Frigates were fine ships, having all 
the qualities of fine ships, and carrying modified batteries. 

So regularly did the Constitution defeat other frigates, 
and so simply was she able to refuse battle with superior 
forces, that the British Navy profited by her advantages 
and built similar ships. But the end of the era of sail was 
approaching, and before much could be done in the further 
perfection of ships of this kind, new warships propelled by 
steam had come into being, throwing into the discard both 
the line-of-battle ships and the frigates of an earlier day. 

Following the War of 1812 there were no engagements of 
great importance in which warships played a part until the 
Crimean War, in 1855. During this period both steam and 
iron had been utilized by the designers of warships, and 
navies had made the first of the great steps that changed 
the fleets of the world from the wooden sailing ships of 
Trafalgar to the steel monsters of Jutland. 

Typical warships of the most improved design just prior 
to the Crimean War were not greatly dissimilar from the 
line-of-battle ships and frigates of the War of 1812 except 
that they used steam as well as sails. They were larger, 
it is true. Such a ship was the British Duke of Wellington. 
She was 240 feet long, 60 feet wide, and displaced 5,830 tons. 
Her engines were of 2,000 horse power, and her speed under 
power was a trifle less than ten knots (nautical miles per 
hour). She carried 131 guns on four decks. This arrange- 
ment of guns was similar to that formerly used on line-of- 
battle ships, which sometimes carried guns on the upper deck 
as well as on the three gun-decks below. She was, then, one 
of the line-of-battle ships of her day, although this term was 
changed about this time to “‘ships-of-the-line.”” Other some- 
what smaller ships, propelled by steam and sails and with 


} Py SHIPS OF WAR. | 157 


/guns placed similarly to those of the earlier frigates, had 
come to be called “‘steam frigates,’ or sometimes still were 
called frigates. The Hartford, Admiral Farragut’s flagship 
at the Battle of Mobile Bay in the American Civil War, 
_was of this type. 

At about this time, too, explosive shells were introduced, 








em (sie 
Mutat 


SSS as : — SSS 


| ———— == = = =~ 





SS i 
= SS SE 
sao a eet 


A MODERN DESTROYER 


This type of ship was originally designed to protect the larger ships from 
torpedo boats, but now that duty has been eliminated by the elimination 
 iiaee boats, and destroyers have many uses with the fleets to which they 

and as these were far more formidable than the solid shot of 
earlier times, naval men set about protecting ships in order 
to reduce the effectiveness of this new form of attack. 

Iron had been introduced a few years earlier as a ship- 
building material, and so iron, naturally enough, was used 
as armour on some of the ships sent to Crimea, for wooden 
ships of the line had been badly battered by the guns of the 
Russians when a combined naval force of British and French 


158 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


ships had attacked a fort near Sebastopol. Both the British 
and the French instantly began to build armoured ships for 
use in the Crimean War. The British ships were not com- 
pleted in time, but three of the French ships went very sue- 
cessfully through an engagement with a Russian fort in 
1855. 

These ships were, of course, awkward, heavy, and slow, 
but they did prove the value of armour, and so both the 
French and the British went to work placing armour on 
wooden ships and building ships of new design. 

In 1859 an iron frigate called the Warrior, a ship 380 feet 
long, displacing 8,800 tons, was begun by the British. A 
wide strip of armour 44 inches thick was placed on each side. 
This armour strip was 213 feet long and was wide enough 
to extend from a little below the water line to the upper 
deck. Both bow and stern were unprotected. This ship 
was, in appearance, merely an enlargement of the wooden 
steam frigates that had preceded her, but she made the sur- 
prising speed, under power, of 14 knots an hour. 

While she was being built a new type of cannon was per- 
fected which gave greater power with less weight and she 
was armed with these improved guns, each of which was of 
seven-inch bore and weighed between six and seven tons. 

Then came the American Civil War and a still newer type 
of armoured ship was invented. This was the ship with a 
turret, and the first of these was the Monitor. She was 
designed by Captain Ericsson, the same man who perfected 
the screw propeller, and the turret, the most important 
feature of this ship, is the original one from which the highly 
perfected turrets of to-day have developed. 

The idea of mounting guns in turrets had been suggested 
before, as a result of the experience gained in the Crimean 
War, but Ericsson, when he designed the Monitor, was the 
first to put the idea into practice. 


SHIPS OF WAR | 159 






































oes bs 
S Sow 
<> see a 
SS SS X 
~~ OSS 
SS ee WS Sas ~! {i 
SSS Sis 






i 






a) 
Lana 


oh 


\ 


— 


> Ey | 





fa iil 
HELUIN 


ATH \ 
Nii) 


nl i 
Se fil co. = 


\ 


N 


' > 
f \ 


A MODERN SUPER-DREADNAUGHT 


_ Which carries the heaviest type of guns, and is protected by heavy armour. 
Its speed is less than that of cruisers. 


' The Monitor was a strange-appearing ship. The fact 
that she was said by the Confederates to be a “cheese box 
on a raft”’ gives some idea of her appearance. She was 170 
feet long, 414 feet wide, and displaced about 1,200 tons, but 
her appearance was unique. Her deck was but two feet 
above the water and from bow to stern she was as smooth 
as a paved street except for a tiny pilot house near the 
bow and a huge round “‘cheese box’’ amidships. This cheese 
box was the turret and in it were mounted two 11-inch 
Dahlgren guns, the Monitor’s only battery. The turret was 
about twenty-two feet in diameter and the sides of it were 
of iron eight inches thick. This was built up of eight thick- 
nesses of one-inch plates bolted together. The broad smooth 
deck was covered with three inches of iron and the low sides 


160 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


with five inches. This strange vessel was completed just ir 
time to be sent to Hampton Roads in order to protect the 
wooden ships of the Union Navy from the ferocious and 
effective onslaughts of the Merrimac, a Confederate ironclad 
that had just sunk the Cumberland and set fire to the Congress, 
This ship had been the wooden frigate Merrimac which had 
been partly burned when the Union forces had abandoned 
the Norfolk Navy Yard. The Confederates had raised her. 
repaired her, cut her sides down almost to the water line, and 
had built a huge deck house amidships. This deck house, 
in which the cannon were mounted, had sloping walls which 
were covered with railroad rails. Harking back to the time 
of Greece, they affixed a huge ram to her bow, and then sent 
her forth against the Union ships in Hampton Roads. Their 
shells ricochetted from her armoured sides like hail from a tin 
roof. All the cannon the helpless Cumberland could bring 
to bear disturbed her not at all, and slowly bearing down 
upon her wooden adversary she buried her ram in the 
Cumberland’s hull. Slowly the old sailing ship filled and 
sank, her guns still firing and her shells still glancing harm- 
lessly from the Merrimac’s armour of rails. ‘The Confederate 
ship then turned her attention to the Congress, shelled her 
and set her on fire, and then calmly returned to her base 
none the worse, save for a few dents in her armour. 

But during the night that followed the Monitor appeared, 
having slowly made her way down the coast from New York. 
The next day the Merrimac came out to finish her work of 
destruction, when the Monitor, a tiny ship beside her great 
opponent, steamed slowly toward the approaching ironclad. 
A duel memorable in naval annals followed—the first battle 
between ironclad ships. 

As the two ships approached each other the Monitor's 
turret slowly revolved. ‘The black muzzles of the two guns 
came to bear on her great antagonist. A double blast from 


SHIPS OF WAR 16] 


them, and the Merrimac reeled from the shock, but the 
turning turret had carried the gun muzzles on around, away 
from the fire of the Confederate ship. As the turret revolved 
the gun crew, with feverish haste, loaded again, and once 
more the muzzles faced the Merrimac. All this time the 
Confederate had been raining shells at her little opponent, 
gut they glanced harmlessly from the deck or barely dented 
she iron walls of the turret. The Merrimac tried to ram, 
jut the Monitor out-manceuvred her and the battle continued. 
\ shell struck the Monitor’s pilot house and the commander 
was temporarily blinded, but the fight continued. At last, 
1owever, the Merrimac withdrew. ‘The fight, perhaps, was 
1 draw, but can more properly be called a victory for the 
Vionitor—the first ship to mount a turret, for the Merrimac 
iever again faced a Union ship, and later in the war was sunk 





A BATTLE CRUISER 


A ship carrying the heaviest of guns but lacking the heavy armour of the dread- 
naughts. Its speed is greatly superior to that of dreadnaughts. 


162 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


by her own men to keep her from falling into the hands of 
their enemies. 

Following this engagement many ships similar to both the’ 
Monitor and the Merrimac were built to take part in the 
Civil War. And others of other designs were constructed, 
The war ended, however, with no further important steps 
having been made in the design of warships. 

Following the Civil War the Navy of the United States 
fell into decay for twenty years, but European nations 
continued the building of ironclad and, later, steelclad war- 
ships. In these, many experiments were made with turrets 
and side armour but little of permanent value resulted. 

Guns were perfected, it is true, and the old muzzle-loading 
smooth-bores of Civil War and earlier times were succeeded 
by breech-loading rifles. These new guns, too, became more 
and more powerful and more and more accurate. Still, 
however, the accuracy of gunfire was not greatly improved, 
although it improved slowly. 

The newer ships gradually eliminated sails and came to 
depend exclusively on their engines, just as passenger ships 
did during this same period, and the engines increased in 
power and reliability until, in the early ‘nineties, many 
of the world’s cruisers were capable of a speed of more than 
twenty knots an hour. 

Turrets had become revolving armoured turntables carry- 
ing one or two guns, and these had been placed on an equally 
heavily armoured “‘barbette”’ or circular steel base through 
which shells and ammunition were hoisted into the turret. 
Side armour grew heavier and heavier, and a “protective 
deck,’ somewhat above the water line, was built in. This 
deck was of comparatively thin steel armour, and as it 
approached the side of the ship it was bent down so that it 
was attached to the sides at or below the water line, thus 
placing over the all-important boilers, engine rooms, and 


SHIPS OF WAR 163 


magazines the protection that they needed from the enemy’s 
shells. During this period, guns were such that an enemy’s 
projectile would probably strike the side of the ship, and 
this deck, therefore, did not have to be designed to prevent 
the entrance of shells striking it except at a small angle. 
Consequently, the light armour used was sufficient. Later, 








A SCOUT CRUISER 


This ship is one of the Omaha class, built afier the World War for the 
U.S. Navy. 


at the Battle of Jutland (in 1916) and elsewhere, these decks 
were easily penetrated by shells fired at such a distance that 
they fell at a very steep angle. | 

Shortly before the Spanish-American War, a new type of 
warship began to appear, and it created much interest be- 
cause of its supposed ability to annihilate other types of 
ships. This new type was the torpedo boat. It was small 
and was very fast, for that day, being capable of twenty-one 
or twenty-two knots and sometimes a little more. It was a 
fragile affair, but it carried the newly perfected Whitehead 
torpedo. ‘‘ Torpedoes” had been used during the Civil War, 


164. SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


but in reality they were nothing but mines, set off by a 
trigger or by contact, and capable of use only when they 
could be set in the path of a ship, or by being fastened at 
the end of a long pole could be thrust against a ship, below 
the water line, by another craft. Some success attended 
their use during the Civil War, but they were not numerous 
or widely successful. 

The Whitehead torpedo, however, was a new development. 
It consisted of three parts: first, the ‘‘ war head,” or foremost 
section, filled with high explosive which was set off when its 
sharp nose came in contact with a solid object; second, a 
round steel compressed-air tank, which took up the midship 
section; and third, the section to which were attached pro- 
pellers, vertical and horizontal rudders, and in which there 
was a powerful engine operated by the compressed air of 
the midship section. This torpedo could be plunged into 
the water from a “torpedo tube” and its engine would 
propel it for four or five hundred yards, while it was kept in 
a direct line and at an even depth beneath the surface by 
its automatic rudders. 

A torpedo boat, then, small, fast, and capable of making a 
comparatively high speed, did seem to be a dangerous war- 
ship. But during the Spanish-American War two Spanish 
torpedo boats, the Furor and the Pluton, were smothered 
by the fire of the American ships—notably the Vizen, which 
was only a converted yacht—at the Battle of Santiago, and 
later another type of ship called the ‘‘torpedo-boat de- 

-stroyer”’ was designed. This new type completely eliminated 
the torpedo boat. 

The heavier warships had grown into weird collections of 
turrets. Turrets carried 12-inch guns, and 8-inch guns, and 
6-inch guns, and all of these were sometimes placed on a single 
ship. Turrets were forward and aft and on both sides, 
sometimes as many as eight of them. But the 12-inch guns 


SHIPS OF WAR 165 





AN AIRPLANE, VIEW OF THE U. S. S. LANGLEY 


An airplane carrier. In order to build the great flying deck the 
“ah ae to be led to the port side, where it projects only slightly above 
eck. 


outranged the 8-inch guns, and the 8-inch guns outranged 
the 6-inch guns, and so the British, seeing the fallacy of 
these numerous guns of various sizes, decided to build a 
ship armed only with the heaviest type of naval guns in 
use and with small guns to withstand torpedo attacks. Thus 
the Dreadnaught came to be designed. She was the first 
“all-big-gun”’ ship, and immediately she changed the design 
of all line-of-battle ships, or, as they had come to be called 
by this time, battleships. Incidentally, so great was the. 
effect that the Dreadnaught had, that all the great battleships 
to-day are called ‘‘dreadnaughts,”’ or, now that they have 
increased so much in size, “‘super-dreadnaughts.”’ 

The Dreadnaught was built in 1906. She is 490 feet long, 
92 feet wide, and displaces 17,900 tons. From this will be 
seen the enormous increase in size that ships had gone through 


166 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


since the introduction of steel. She carried ten 12-inch 
guns, mounted in five turrets, and in addition to these, origi- 
nally carried no other guns save twenty-four 12-pounder 
rapid-fire guns. She could steam at 217 knots an hour, and 
the distance she could go without replenishing her supply 
of coal was 5,800 miles. 

This ship, as I have suggested, revolutionized modern 
battleship design, and, since she first appeared, the leading 
naval powers have built ships of her type as their first line 
of defense. It is true that her secondary battery was found 
to be inadequate and that later dreadnaughts and super- 
dreadnaughts have increased the size of the guns in this minor 
battery, but they still retain the huge and powerful battery 
of big guns of a uniform size. 

Dreadnaughts have enlarged their guns from 12-inch to 
14-inch and at last to 16-inch, which, under the Disarmament 
Treaty signed at Washington in 1921, is the limit in size, 
and some of the newest ships have their guns mounted three 
in a turret instead of one or two, but the characteristic that 
made the Dreadnaught a dreadnaught is still a characteristic 
of all present-day first-line battleships. 

Other types have come into existence, but unfortunately 
I have no space in which to discuss them. Battle cruisers 
are fast ships of tremendous size—they are the largest of 
modern warships—which carry little armour but are armed 
with huge batteries of the heaviest guns and are capable of 
enormous speed. They can make from 28 to 35 knots an 
hour—a speed that can be equalled only by destroyers. 
There are submarines, those slinking creatures that infested 
the North Sea, the Atlantic, and the Mediterranean during 
the World War. The hours I have spent on duty in 
the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay, leaning on the 
bridge rail, scanning every wave and every bit of wreckage, 
helping to pick up occasionally the crew of a torpedoed 


) 





SHIPS OF WAR 167 


steamer, searching night and day for the submarines sent 
out from Kiel and Zeebrugge, have not made of submarines 
a type of warship for which I have any love. But I realize 
that, despite the aversion I grew to have for them, they are 
‘marvellous structures, capable of amazing feats, and capable, 
too, of better, or at least not such vicious, uses as those to 
which the Germans put them. 

_ But the warships of to-day—they are of almost innumer- 
able designs and sizes and uses. A modern fleet is no longer 
able to maintain itself with fighting ships alone. Supply 
‘ships, hospital ships, airplane carriers, colliers, gunboats, 
fleet submarines, ordinary submarines, destroyers, scout 
‘cruisers, battle cruisers, dreadnaughts, super-dreadnaughts— 
‘these are some of the types that only an encyclopedia of 
naval information could adequately describe. 


CHAPTER VIII 
PORTS AND PORT EQUIPMENT 


N@ all of the story of the sea is in the story of ships. 
Ships have always required shelter from the stress of 
sea, where repairs could be made, where cargoes could be 
loaded and unloaded, where crews and passengers could 
be taken on board or put ashore. In ancient times a river’s 
mouth might have been sufficient, or a natural indentation 
in the coast line where a small protected body of water lay 
in the lee of a jutting headland. Sometimes a small bay, 
almost completely surrounded by land, and still deep enough 
for ships to ride at anchor, served as a harbour of refuge. 
Sometimes islands might be found that protected a small 
arm of the sea. 

All such places along the Mediterranean coast early 
became known to navigation, for the early sailor was in- 
clined to skirt the shore, fearful of the perils of the open sea. 
At first these sheltered spots were left, of course, as Nature 
had made them. Perhaps a bar at the mouth made entry 
difficult; perhaps the prevailing winds drove piled-up seas 
into the broad mouths of others; perhaps marshes surrounded 
others still, and in such cases these harbours were less used 
than those without such disadvantages. 

But wherever a fine harbour existed there grew up a port, 
for ships, except those meant for war, have no uses save to 
carry the goods and passengers that originate ashore. If, 
on some one of these finer harbours, a port sprang up, and if 
a rich interior country was easy of access from it, because of a 
navigable river, perhaps, or because caravan routes con- 

168 


* 


PORTS AND PORT EQUIPMENT 169 


verged there, or an easy defile through some mountain range 
led to some rich valley not too far distant, these ports became 
important. They grew in size because the ease of land or 
jnland transportation permitted the people of the interior 
to bring their goods for sale. Because of their increased 
size they attracted the makers of cloth, of leather goods, 
of glass, of metal ware and cutlery, and of all the great list 
of goods that go to make up commerce. These artisans 
came to important ports because the ease of distribution 
made it simpler for them to sell their wares. 

At first, the ships being small, they could be drawn up on 
the beach, but as trade increased it was found advisable to 

















s DP 
Zs 
4) 
al 


fh 


——— AN 





) 


in 


(i 
a 





A MAP OF THE PORT OF NEW YORK 


The Lower Bay has not yet been developed, but about the Upper Bay and along 
the Hudson and East rivers hundreds of piers are in everyday use. While 
New York is a huge port and while it can continue to grow for many years it 
has numerous disadvantages, one of the chief of which is the absence of a belt 
line railroad. 


170 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


build warehouses and sea walls, so that goods could be stored 
and easily loaded and unloaded. The port having become 
important, it became vital to protect it from pirates and other 
enemies, so walls were built about it on the landward side, 
and sometimes sea walls were built on the water side, in 
which a narrow entrance was left open during the day and 
closed with a heavy chain or a floating barricade at night. 
These sea walls were often as important to shield the ports 
from storms as to protect them from enemies. Thus the 
early ports developed, and within these walls were not only 
all the traders with their goods, but shipyards and those who 
supplied ships with cordage, lumber, and sails, as well. 

This simple type of port was the rule down to long after 
the Middle Ages. As a matter of fact, the great complete 
structure of the modern port has been developed within very 
recent times—principally since the introduction of steam. 

Naturally enough such cities as Venice and Genoa, in 
their heyday, about or a little after the year 1200, were no 
longer simple ports, but by comparison with even minor 
ports of to-day they were simple places. 

With the development of steam, however, ports became 
more and more complex. The increased size of ships, the 
great investments that demanded no loss of time in loading 
and unloading, the vast increase in the amount of freight 
and the number of passengers handled—all these, and many 
other reasons, compelled ports to add complexity to com- 
plexity, until the person unfamiliar with the great doings of 
a busy modern port stands aghast at the vast collection of 
quays and docks, jetties and sea walls, steam tugs and canal 
boats, ferryboats and barges, floating grain elevators and 
great suction dredges, ocean liners and ocean tramps, and a 
great variety of complicated equipment in the shape of 
shipyards, coal pockets, factories, warehouses, railroad ter- 
minals, and many other things too numerous to mention. 


PORTS AND PORT EQUIPMENT Saliva! 


Ships do not make a port. Even a fine harbour will not 
jo that alone. New York is to-day one of the very greatest 
of the world’s great ports, but had Nature erected a barrier of 
nsurmountable mountains around it, even though the har- 
jour and the entrance from the sea had been left exactly 


: 


— 
— 
— 


il 


we 


1 
NM, 


ne 
\ 





A MAP OF THE PORT OF LIVERPOOL 


__ While Liverpool is much smaller, so far as mere area is concerned, than New 
‘York, it handles about the same amount of freight. Freight ships load and 
unload in the tidal basins while passenger steamers use floating landing stages. 


is they are now, it would have been an inconsequential 
jlace, important, perhaps, as a naval base, but unimportant 
is a centre of trade, for communication with the interior 
vould have been rendered difficult or impossible, so that the 
vheat of the great Northwest, the iron and steel of Pitts- 
yurgh, the manufactured products of a thousand centres 
yould have found their way to Baltimore or Philadelphia 
wr Boston or to some other port easier of access. 


172 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


Thus a port depends on two things—first, ease of access to: 
the sea; second, ease of access to a productive hinterland. 

Nor can a port become highly important if its trade is all 
in one direction. If it imports but does not export, ships 
can come loaded but must go away empty, and to do that 
they must charge very high and possibly prohibitive rates 
for the freight they bring. If the port exports but does not, 
import, then ships must come empty before they can secure 
their cargoes, and the result is the same. A healthy port, 
then, must have a constant and steady stream of freight 
bound in both directions. Montreal would be a more im- 
portant port than it is if it served a hinterland that bought 
in larger quantities the goods manufactured in Europe, 
for Montreal could export very nearly all the wheat that 
ships could take from her harbour. But her imports are 
so much less than her possible exports that ships cannot 
afford to come in sufficient numbers to carry away all that 
she could send, especially as the wheat can be, and a large 
part of it is, diverted to Philadelphia, New York, Boston, 
and Portland. 

Imagine a rich country, producing goods in large quantities 
which are salable in foreign lands, and anxious and willing 
to buy, in equal quantities, the goods of these foreign lands. 
Imagine such a country without a single harbour—with, 
perhaps, a long unbroken coast of sandy beach on which 
relentless surges pound the whole year through. Would 
such a country long remain without a port? Not so. Ne 
matter how difficult and costly the task might be, a port 
would be built upon that very coast. A harbour would be 
dredged. Great sea walls would be erected. Vast warehouses 
great quays and docks, busy railroad terminals would soor 
be in operation, and where Nature had made no harbour 
man would have one. 

But Nature is seldom so unkind. All around the worlc 


PORTS AND PORT EQUIPMENT 173 


A te EE SN NP Re ee a 






yes 
Ate ¢ 
oO 
i 
HNIC THEROY 
re 
\ 
SS 
Surupube 
_' Bay , 
: J 
« é 
SV 
ass ZA Sy 
- ee 
. = & 
Zaiws e, = =a 
tl APS OSE bed UR aS a” 7 
VCR: eee 
Bee r= 1 iy, ieee. 
qu AMES 
ATLANTIC OCEAN 


A MAP OF THE PORT OF RIO DE JANEIRO 


Rio Bay is probably the finest in the world, but mountains paralleling the 
coast form a handicap to the easy transportation of goods inland. 


are natural harbours which need only the clever hand of man 
to become busy with the transfer of goods. Some, of course, 
aave more natural advantages than others. Some are al- 
most entirely the work of man, as others are almost entirely 
the work of Nature, but their natural advantages must be 
many ere it is worth the time of man to improve them. 

The natural advantages of a port, however, are of the 
greatest value when they combine many things far distant 
from the port itself with the natural advantages of the har- 
bour, its surroundings, and its outlet. 

To cite New York once more, among its great advantages 
are these: First, a fine harbour, with ease of access to the 
sea yet with thorough protection from its storms. Second, 
suitable land surrounding the harbour, on which factories, 
warehouses, piers, and shipyards can be erected. Third, 


174 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


a great and navigable river leading into a rich country, 
Fourth, a fine canal connecting the upper reaches of thai 
river with a far greater land, rich in people of great purchas. 
ing and producing power, rich in mines, in farms, in factories 
Fifth, routes leading overland into the interior along whict 
great railroads have been built that reach with their network 
ten thousand centres that otherwise could not buy the goods 
imported to New York or sell their own either there or be. 
yond the seas. These five things have created at the mouth 
of the Hudson one of the greatest seaports of all time 
Without any one of them New York could not be the port 
it is, but of the five, the first two are the least important, 
for a harbour could be made, and had the surrounding land 
been a marsh it could have been built into dry land. With: 
out the trade of the great land to the West, however, New 
York could not have been the port that it is to-day. 

But an account of all the factors that go to make a port 
would take one far afield, so with only this inconsequential 
statement in reference to the vast economic structure that 
lies behind a port, I shall confine myself directly to the port 
itself and to its environs, its equipment, and its activities, 

No two ports are identical, but the major ports of the 
world divide themselves more or less readily into types which 
I may be permitted to call the European and the American 
types, inaccurate as those classifications may be. I shall 
describe, in more or less detail, these two types, and add to 
this something from other ports that fall less readily under 
these two inaccurate classifications. 

To begin with it needs to be said that mere size has little 
bearing ona port’s ability to handle large quantities of freight. 
By comparison with the area of the port of New York the 
area of the port of Liverpool is limited, New York being 
perhaps six times larger. Across the Mersey from Liverpool 
are the Birkenhead Docks, which, so far as mere area is 


| 


PORTS AND PORT EQUIPMENT 175 


| 

/ 

oncerned, are hardly larger than the Cumminipaw Terminal 
if the Central Railroad of New Jersey which lies across the 
Tudson from the Battery. The port of New York, including 
he New Jersey side of the Hudson and the Bay, has a 
leveloped waterfront several times as great as the port of 
averpool including the Birkenhead Docks, yet the tonnage 
if overseas freight handled in each of these two ports is 
oughly the same. 

The same comparison can be made with many other Eu- 
opean ports, which are all far smaller than New York al- 
hough several equal or exceed New York in the tonnage of 
ransoceanic freight handled. 

_ But let us take New York and describe it, in order that 
‘ther ports may be compared with it. 
Entering New York Bay from the ocean a ship passes 


| 
} 
} 


| 




















<<< 
| A ee ee 
! p oly 
\ Bas 
2 ‘ WN 
\ Ww. E Zw’ -T ~ 
wt (7 FES 9 whe 
ms TET ASSS FPA 
) = “at Sw jiullea zt 
I) MUOZ/IAS QOWSS 2 
Niet RAL 
: \’ 
i = Zw Ay : 
Tietes _— 


‘wi, 
Hl Hh | 

| Tn 
i 

nth 


i 
| 


A MAP OF THE PORT OF CAPE TOWN 


| Table Bay is open to the force of north and northwest winds. Before the bay 
tould protect ships from the frequent storms blowing from these directions a 
series of breakwaters had to be built, in the lee of which ships could anchor. 


176 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


between Coney Island on the right and Sandy Hook on th, 
left. Within these two points lies the Lower Bay, a grea 
and largely undeveloped body of water around which prac 
tically none of the port’s equipment is placed. Standin; 
on up the channel, with Long Island on the right and State) 
Island on the left, the ship enters the Narrows, a restricte 
passage connecting the Lower and the Upper bays. One. 
through the Narrows the port begins to show itself. Th 
Upper Bay is smaller than the Lower and is roughly rec 
tangular, while at each corner a river or a strait connects i 
with other bodies of water. Of these the Narrows, jus 
mentioned, is the most important, for through it flows fa 
and away the greatest stream of shipping. The Hudso 
River is second in importance, for this great and navigabl 
stream penetrates far into the interior and is connected wit 
the Great Lakes by the Erie Canal, or, as the newly finishe 
improvement on the Erie Canal is called, the State Barg 
Canal. The other two exits from the Upper Bay are th 
East River—a strait connecting the Bay with Long Islan 
Sound—and, least important, the Kill von Kull, leadin 
from the Upper Bay to Newark Bay. 

Piers and huge railroad terminals are to be found on ever 
side, and, more important still, they line the Hudson Rive 
for four or five miles on each side from its mouth at th 
Battery, to Fifty-ninth Street on the Manhattan side, an 
to Fort Lee in New Jersey. Similarly, but to a less exten 
the East River is lined with piers while a great railroa 
terminal is located on Long Island Sound just beyond wher 
the East River ends. Yet thriving as it is, this great por 
compared with some other great ports, is an inefficient plac 

Marseilles is a smaller port than New York, yet Marseille 
for every linear foot of equipped quay, averages annuall 
1,500 tons of cargo transferred as against 150 at New Yor! 

The reason for this is that the ports are two different type 


| PORTS AND PORT EQUIPMENT 177 


n New York the piers are long and narrow and are built 
m piles from the shore line out into the water to the pier 
ine. Such structures are inefficient in many ways. The 
fiers being narrow, they make it difficult for a roadway to 
ve kept open throughout their entire length, and force the 
andlers of freight to store it high on both sides. Further- 


SA em 6 ei 
ws 


\ i ni > 
Bassin <3 #0 
NATIONAL =, “ NN 
5 p> HY ¥ 
i BASSIN Ae Me 
=, . re . 
Bees! | Names VSS aK Sy, 
= Zy Re”, 
= ‘ 





ee Fa- >= | eee : 
ORT DE 


ly 

A oi 
LA Tuas 

Sal ws O RI = 

> 









A MAP OF THE PORT OF MARSEILLES 


| In this case the city grew up practically without a harbour. Finally a break- 
baler ie erected parallel to the shore in order that ships might be protected 
‘rom the sea. 


tore, the strength of the structures will seldom permit of 
ae erection of numerous cranes along each side in order to 
xpedite the loading and unloading of ships. 

_In Hamburg there are quays 1,500 feet long with 3-ton 
ranes spaced every 100 feet. In all of New York Harbour 
nere is no installation similar to this. It is true that at 
ae Bush Terminals there is an excellent installation of ware- 
ouses, piers, railroad facilities, and other port equipment—an 


178 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


installation comparable to the best—but New York as a 
whole could be greatly improved, although it is only fair 
to say that the difficulties and expense would be great. 

But while foreign ports are likely to be more lavishly equip- 
ped with loading and unloading machinery, it must be remem- 
bered that they, long since, have developed the small areas 
at their disposal and cannot readily expand, while New York, 
great as it is, still has room for expansion and could add many 
times its present equipment to what it now has. 

Furthermore, New York labours under another, and a very 
serious, handicap. It has grown to be one of the world’s 
ereat manufacturing centres. It abounds in factories 
The wholesale houses, the stores, and other places of busines: 
handle huge stocks of goods, and the railroad facilities aré 
limited. Every port should have a “belt line” railroad 
that is, a railroad circling it about, crossing all the line: 
that come to it from any direction. With such a railroad 
freight could be brought into the city by any line, turnec 
over to the Belt Line, and switched to almost any of thi 
industrial sections or quays. But New York has no suel 
railroad. To begin with, New York proper is on the Islanc 
of Manhattan, and only one freight line comes into the city 
The others all have their terminals in New Jersey, save fo 
one on the north shore of Long Island Sound and one ii 
Brooklyn. Therefore, it is necessary to transfer the freigh 
intended for New York by means of “‘car ferries.”” Further 
more, all the freight landed on New York piers must b 
transported by trucks, or reémbarked on canal boats ani 
barges. Except on the New Jersey side of the Bay and th 
Hudson River, on Staten Island and at the Bush Terminals 
there are few places in the entire port where railroads ¢al 
run their cars to warehouses conveniently placed for the re 
ception of cargoes. 

Busy as are the piers on Manhattan Island they are de 


| PORTS AND PORT EQUIPMENT 179 










= -| 


a 


| 


ars Sp =n ee 


A TUG BOAT 


The bows of these boats are often protected by pads to which much wear 
often gives an appearance of a tangled beard. 


voted almost exclusively, so far as freight is concerned, to 
the shipments intended for the business houses located in 
Manhattan. The congestion always noticeable along West 
Street is due to the unfortunate location of the principal 
borough of New York City on an island, and little of this 
busy district is given over to the handling of foreign com- 
merce. 

_ Were the facilities for handling freight more highly de- 
veloped, a large percentage of the cost of shipment would 
be eliminated. While the port of New York is fortunate 
inmany respects, its plan is such that it is difficult to see how 
a highly efficient system of freight transfer could be installed 
without disproportionate expense. Lacking this system, 
there is a great deal of freight handled in the most expensive 
possible way—by hand—which could be handled more 


180 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


cheaply were it practicable to instal the most highly de- 
veloped mechanical assistance. ‘This manual labour neces- 
sitates higher rates for the shipment of freight. How great 
these costs are is apparent when one realizes that once 
aboard ship, a cargo of coal could be carried from New York 
to Rio de Janeiro for what it would cost, to move by hand, a 
pile of coal the same size as the cargo, a distance of sixty 
feet. Such a statement gives one a little grasp on the huge 
costs of unnecessary freight handling. 

What I have termed the “American type” of ports are 
those that have piers built on piles out from the shore line. 
Alongside these piers the ships are tied up, and largely with 
their own derricks they hoist their cargoes from their holds 
and deposit them on the pier. Sometimes these piers are 
two stories high, with one floor intended for incoming and 
the other for outgoing freight. These piers may be from a 
few hundred to a thousand or more feet in length, and the 
longer they are the broader they must be in order that there 
may be enough space between the freight on both sides for 
the trucks that cart the freight to or from them, for the 
Jonger the pier the more freight it will have and the more 
trucks it will need to accommodate in order to have it moved. 

But piers are not the best arrangement for handling freight. 
A more nearly ideal arrangement is a warehouse served on 
one side by ships and on the other by a railroad and trucks. 
In this case the warehouse becomes a reservoir capable of 
taking quickly into storage the huge cargoes of many ships. 
From this reservoir of imports freight trains can be loaded 
conveniently without congestion. On the other hand, ex- 
ports sent to the warehouse by rail can arrive in trainload 
or carload or even less-than-carload shipments and can be 
stored conveniently until a cargo is on hand, when it can 
quickly be put aboard ship. In such a port as New York 
such a warehouse would need, as well, to be equipped to 


* 


PORTS AND PORT EQUIPMENT 181 


oad and unload lighters and canal boats. Were all of the 
jiers of the port of New York rebuilt along these lines— 
wd that is practically impossible—the port could handle 
vith ease and the minimum of expense many times its 
yresent tonnage. 

What I have called the “‘ European type”’ of port is one in 
vhich piers, such as those in New York, are practically 
mknown. Many European ports have a handicap that 
loes not trouble ports of the United States. This handicap 
s the high tide. While the tide at New York has a range of 
\ feet, at Boston 93 feet, at Baltimore 1 foot, Liverpool is 
roubled with a range of 25 or 30 feet, and many other ports 
ave as much, or almost as much. This means that while a 
hip may be tied up to a pier at New York and not be both- 
red by an extreme movement up and down great enough 































ZZ, 
Le; . 
. a Zs 
Bo ae ee 
y 7 ee eS, peti . 
{ / 2 Ye vg Zs 
= g ZW oe 
inne ¢ i Zyven cern ONS 
Pe 
"y Ss = -_ 
Jie Dares 
ee REZ LG Z EZ | eee ee 
= EZ 
Vice id ores : Ss M4 wom Fafa meal 
eet TTT eset | Wtf yee mee 
CY ar? TW aad Tee ae (ant ialaatel tee ea 
Pm ka bl la se ale a 
Tin FIUTTINTEMMTTMUTITN TEMA AATTILUTTETI TTT TINT MUITTNLTRNMLETTTTITET CORA QUILT 
cam | ea m7 A WACTITTCINE er ee 1 at te eee eg 






A NEW YORK HARBOUR FERRY 


While these double-ended ships are large, they do not compare in size with 
the liners. Yet they carry hundreds of thousands of passengers to and fro 
across the Hudson and the Upper Bay. 


182 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


to make her any difficulty in the handling of her cargo, ships 
in Liverpool cannot be berthed at unprotected piers, for if 
they were they would find their decks far below the deck 
of the pier at low tide, while at high tide the water would 
raise them until their decks would be above it. 

There are two ways of overcoming this difficulty. At 
Liverpool great landing stages are built, floating in the 
water parallel to the shore. Running from these to the 
shore are great hinged gangplanks which permit the landing 
stage to rise and fall with the tides while these gangplanks, 
which are really more like bridges, hold them parallel to the 
shore and serve as bridges as well. A ship, made fast to 
one of these landing stages, rises and falls as the stage does, 
and the two maintain their relative positions to each other 
regardless of the stage of the tide. In Liverpool these stages 
are largely used for passenger ships. 

The other method, which is also in use at Liverpool as 
well as at many other ports, is to build a sea wall across 
the entrance to the docks, and in this sea wall to build e 
“lock,” or a water gate. When the tide is in, the wate 
gate is opened and the harbour or the dock is flooded to the 
level of high tide. As the tide recedes this lock is closec 
and the water level behind it remains the same. Ships pass 
in and out, either at high tide, when the lock or gate can be 
left open for a time, or, if at other stages of the tide, by 
means of the lock, which, being made up of two gates at the 
opposite ends of a long, narrow, canal-like passageway, make: 
it possible for the ship to pass into the lock, where the wate 
level can be made to coincide with the level of the dock o1 
of the water outside. Then, by opening the inner or the 
outer gate, as the case may be, the ship can enter the dock 
or the unprotected waters outside. 

Equipment of both these types is to be found at a numbel 
of European ports, while still other ports, not troubled witl 


PORTS AND PORT EQUIPMENT 183 


i great range of tide, do not find it necessary to instal them. 
But the principal difference between the European and 
\merican types is to be found in the use by the former of 
juge quays, sometimes more or less similar in general shape 
o the American piers, but infinitely larger. Also they are 
uurrounded by stone sea walls and are of dry land. On 





se 
—— 
ee 


———— ee 
ee 
a awe 
a Tn 
ge Te 
———— 3; 
1 eg i ee 
eee Fok a F) 
== aera 
ae gs 
Ft ae est Sew 
a a = 


a 
A eee 
he en : 


Mm 
jul, eu lh! aE la 
__ SS pte, 
— 


wane a te tty 

Waeeage A 4 7 \ 

. on ow = 
inves Se, j[edeol pices 
ts faeelleth 

tee 
ane os 
"Ceres TA 7 = 











ui |) 
Hl 


7% 





e 
“wwe * 5 ag age 
soe, wa? 
NOUR Lie gE 


UN 


SS 


A NEW YORK HARBOUR LIGHTER 


Lighters take various forms and perform various tasks. European light- 

ers are more likely to have pointed ends. American lighters very often have 

square ends. Occasionally they have engines of their own, but generally 
, they depend on tugs for power. 


these great quays are warehouses, railroad tracks, derricks, 
cranes, and even great railroad yards. They are of various 
sizes and various shapes, but all of them, by comparison 
with piers, are very large. At Manchester, for instance, 
where a harbour has been built in that inland city and con- 
nected with the Irish Sea by the Manchester Ship Canal, 
there are only eleven or twelve quays, but their area is 152 


184 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


acres, and they have a water frontage of more than five 
miles. The railways and sidings on and immediately ad- 
jacent to the quays have a total length of well over thirty 
miles. Great warehouses, some as many as thirteen stories 
high, are built on these quays, with berthing space for 
ships on one side and railroad sidings on the other. Inland 
canals as well as railroads serve this port and, of course, much 
local freight is moved by truck. Manchester is an excellent 
example of what I have termed the European type of port. 

But as I have said, no two ports are identical. Each port 
has advantages and disadvantages, problems and solutions 
of its own. Descriptions of a few scattered ports may be 
of some service in giving an idea of the variety of problems 
and solutions that may arise, before I turn to a description 
of the details of port equipment. 

I have given a little space to the arrangement of the ports 
of New York and Manchester, and Liverpool has been 
mentioned. Let us turn, then, to Rio de Janeiro, a port 
very different from these. 

Rio is on one of the most magnificent harbours in the 
world, and is becoming an increasingly important port. 
It labours, however, under a very serious handicap in that it 
has no waterway leading into the vast interior of Brazil. 
Furthermore, other easy routes inland from Rio are inter- 
fered with by the mountain ranges that lie close to the coast. 
Railroads have been built across these mountains for some 
distance into the interior, but the grades are heavy, and by 
present methods it would be expensive and difficult to send 
great quantities of freight by these routes. For this reason 
Rio is not likely ever to become a South American New 
York. Here, then, is a case of a magnificent harbour that 
will probably never be used to its capacity. 

The harbour itself is about sixteen miles long and is from 
two to eleven miles in width. It is deep enough to accom- 


= 


| PORTS AND PORT EQUIPMENT 185 
=<” 


= 


be gee ae —_ = Se ce 


\! i a ae 
\,( \| See ee 


A Cae 
is 
1B Qi 











Or eed 
Sirarera 
ie 


d 


DEN, 


| 
| | emai OPTION LE Nite 
DS: Wie ‘| Naga Peerage: 
| A y n TS ol 
' | an . oo 
Wares : PU rey 
<= = | ieee | | RTT ATTRY UT THT till i 
7 é . { ! 
ey io (hs er ak 
| it 2 ton tae 4 veal 
; | iF; SVE: 
= yf y ) = 
, em & : “= — = = 
0 ‘ L Att :- 





on 
rh 








A MISSISSIPPI RIVER STERN-WHEELER 


modate the world’s greatest ships and could readily be 
equipped with an almost perfect arrangement of terminal 
facilities. As it stands the port is excellent, but by compari- 
son with other large ports its tonnage of freight is limited. 
Quays similar to those so often used in European ports are 
in use in Rio, and in the development of the port the Euro- 
pean system is being followed. 

Capetown is less fortunate in its harbour than Rio, for 
Table Bay, upon which Capetown is situated, is twenty miles 
wide at its entrance and is fully exposed to the north and 
northwest gales. This handicap necessitated the construc- 
tion of huge breakwaters which enclose two basins of a total 
area of about seventy-five acres. In addition there is a 
good anchorage in the lee of one of the breakwaters, and 
the port is expanding in order to utilize this protected spot. 
Here again the several miles of quays are of the European 
type. 

Marseilles, on the other hand, can hardly be said to havea 
harbour at all. It is situated on an indentation of the coast 


186 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


which is slightly protected by Cape Croisette, but which is 
entirely unprotected from the west. This has necessitated 
the erection of a breakwater parallel to the shore line behind 
which are a series of basins in which are a dozen or so docks 
and quays. The Mediterranean is practically tideless, so 
the basins at Marseilles do not require locks, but the basins, 
in almost every respect, except for the absence of dock gates, 
are similar to those, for instance, at Liverpool. A glance 
might suggest that Marseilles would be an inefficient port, 
but the contrary is the case. 

I could go on almost indefinitely listing ports that differ as 
greatly from these as these differ from one another, but I 
could hardly show more clearly how diverse are the problems 
to be solved by the designers and builders of ports. There 
are many books, of which ‘Ports and Terminal Facilities,” 
by Roy S. MacElwee, Ph. D., is one, that discuss the numer- 
ous economic, engineering, and structural phases of ports, 
and to these I refer the person interested in the technicalities 
of port design, construction, and operation. This outline, 
being consciously non-technical and limited, must pass on to 
other things. 

What is most obvious to the casual observer at a busy port 
is the great and varied stream of shipping that seems for 
ever on the move. For amoment I shall turn to this collec- 
tion of ships in order to explain the uses of the different types 
and the necessity for them. 

A ship arrives in a busy port from a foreign country. The 
ship is large and is designed so as to be easily handled at sea. 
She is not, however, easy to handle in the restricted and 
crowded waters of a port. It takes a quarter- or a half-mile 
circle for her to turn around in, if she is under way, and she 
is not entirely to be trusted if the tide catches her in narrow 
waters. <A collision may result, and so there are tugboats 
which, among their numerous duties, are employed to tow 


PORTS AND PORT EQUIPMENT 187 


her about the harbour, or to assist in turning her, or to push 
her awkward nose across the sweep of the tide in order that 
she may enter a dock or swing into a narrow slip. 

Tugs are even more necessary when sailing ships appear, 
for a large sailing ship without auxiliary power is hard to 
handle in a crowded and narrow harbour. Barges, too, re- 
quire outside power, which the tugs furnish, for few barges 
have power of their own. Canal boats are barges of a sort, 
and once in a port can no longer depend upon the mule 
teams that tow them through canals. So the tug’s life is a 
busy and a varied one. It swings on the end of a huge 
hawser in its attempt to keep the Leviathan or the Majestic 
from sideswiping a pier. It tows barges loaded with coal, 
or piled high with any other kind of cargo. It tows a string 


Ys 


\ 


fl 
My 





A MODERN VENETIAN CARGO BOAT 


This is hardly more than a barge, with a sail plan of a modified 
form, somewhat suggesting the lateen rig common in the Mediter- 
ranean, and something like the lug sails common in French waters. 


188 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


of empty and wall-sided canal boats up the river, or steams 
along with one lashed to each side. Tugs carry no cargo, 
but they are for ever straining at hawsers in their energetic 
furthering of commerce. 

Lighters are of any size and of a great variety of shapes. 
In New York they are likely to be capable of carrying from 
three hundred to six hundred or seven hundred tons of 
freight, and are merely huge scows, their sides parallel, their 
ends square, their decks slightly overhanging the water at 
bow and stern. Often there is a small deck house for the 
accommodation of the “‘crew,” which generally consists 
of one man, who serves as watchman, and also handles the 
lines as the lighter is made fast to tugs or piers or to the sides 
of other vessels. Other ports have other types of lighters. 
In Hamburg they range in size from comparatively small 
boats to comparatively large ones. The small ones, and 
even some of the larger, are often propelled along the shallow 
canals of the port by poles, or are pulled along the quays 
by men to whom lines are passed. ‘These Hamburg lighters 
are often built of steel (the New York lighters are usually 
of wood) and have pointed bows and sometimes pointed 
sterns. They are broad and sturdy, some have decks, some 
covered decks, and some are open. In bad weather the 
freight on these open lighters is covered by tarpaulins. 
It is interesting that the largest Hamburg lighters about 
equal in size the smallest New York lighters. In vessels so 
simple as lighters are, there can be few differences save those 
of size and general shape, so one will find that most lighters 
fall into one or the other of the types I have mentioned. 
They are sometimes loaded directly from ships. They may 
be loaded from freight put ashore on piers, quays, at grain 
elevators and ore pockets. At some ports where the draft 
of water does not permit a heavily laden ship to enter, the 
lighters are sent out to where the ship is at anchor and 


PORTS AND PORT EQUIPMENT 189 


“lightens” her, if she is discharging, or takes her her cargo 
if she is loading. Lighters, then, are floating delivery 
wagons, subject to many uses. 

Canal boats hardly require much space. They are merely 
barges whose uses are largely restricted to canals. They 
have no power of their own, and their journeys are generally 
at the end of a towline hitched to a mule or a team which 
walks along a tow path beside the canal. They are unbeauti- 
ful but useful, and usually have a deck house for the use of 
the bargeman, who is often accompanied by his wife and 
children. There are no masts from which to spread sails 
or fly signal flags, but in lieu of this, one sometimes sees the 
housewife hanging out her washing on a clothesline stretched 
wherever she can place it. In their attempt to secure the 
comforts of home the bargeman’s family is likely to have 
with it a dog or a couple of pigs, and sometimes both. Such 
a collection of human and animal passengers can live on a 
canal boat with a considerable degree of comfort, for the 
dangers of the sea are not for them. Although life on a 
canal boat is subject to some handicaps, at least it does 
not include danger from high seas and uncharted reefs. 

The introduction of the gasolene engine has made possible 
successful small boats, of almost every size and shape, 
speedy, slow, seaworthy, or cranky, depending on their 
design or lack of design. ‘They scoot everywhere on a thou- 
sand errands and add a nervous note to ports that otherwise 
would seem to be calm and self-possessed. ‘These motor 
boats are infinite in number and are put to every use. Here, 
however, I shall not do more than recognize the very appar- 
ent fact that they exist. 

These vessels I have named are all a port would need to 
take care of its overseas commerce. Most ports, however, 
are busy with an infinite number of other ships engaged in 
coastwise or inland trade. River steamers, fishermen, ferry- 


190 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


boats, and coasting freighters are perhaps commoner than 
ocean-going ships. Then, too, one sometimes sees a floating 
grain elevator, not dissimilar in appearance to some grain 
elevators ashore. There are water barges, which supply 
ships with fresh water. There are dredges, seemingly for 
ever at work. There are glistening yachts and frowning 
warships. There is everything that floats rubbing elbows 
with everything else that floats, and yet despite the seeming 
confusion, the whole port is orderly, and seldom indeed 
are there collisions or accidents to mar the smoothness os 
the flow of commerce. 


CHAPTER IX 
THE ART OF SEAMANSHIP 


EAMANSHIP is the art of handling ships and is not 
to be confused with navigation, which is the mathe- 
matical science of determining ships’ positions and their 
courses. Only sailors who have had experience at sea can 
be adept at seamanship, but it is quite possible for a person 
who has never seen a ship to learn all the intricacies of naviga- 
tion. Neither is a knowledge of one requisite to the mastery 
of the other. 

In this chapter I shall devote myself to a few of the more 
obvious phases of seamanship, leaving navigation for the 
next chapter, where I shall also touch upon piloting, a related 
science. 

Seamanship, being an art, can be acquired only by prac- 
tice, and seamen being formerly an all-but-unlettered class, 
jealous of their calling, wrote no textbooks of their art until 
Captain John Smith, the famous old adventurer in Virginia, 
and Sir Henry Manwayring, of the Elizabethan navy, wrote 
their treatises on the subject in the early part of the 17th 
Century. It is difficult, therefore, to say with any degree 
of certainty just what were the general practices of seamen 
of earlier times. 

Because of this lack of definite information concerning 
ancient seamanship, I shall discuss the art only in its more 
modern aspects. It is interesting to mention again, however, 
what I have mentioned elsewhere, that the ancients were 
coasters rather than deep-sea sailors, who, until Columbus’s 

191 


192 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


time, were unaccustomed to making long voyages out of 
sight of land save here and there, as, for instance, between 
Aden, at the mouth of the Red Sea, and India. On such a 
route they came and went with the monsoons, which blow 
alternately at different seasons of the year from and to the 
Indian coast. But, aside from such exceptions, the ancients, 
able seamen though they may sometimes have been, seldom 
sailed far out of sight of land. In ancient times a sailor, 
it would seem, was anxious to stay near shore, for then he 
could readily follow his route, indirect though that might be. 
To-day the sailor is more at ease if he is well away from land, 


for the perils of the deep sea are trifling by comparison with . 


the perils of the coast. Storms at sea can usually be ridden 
out without danger. Storms that blow as ships approach 
the shore are cause for apprehension. The ancient sailor 
kept his eyes open for heavy weather and if he saw it coming 
he made straightway for the beach, and, if possible, pulled 
‘his little ship high and dry until it had passed. The sailor 
of to-day, too, keeps his eyes open for storms, but if they 
come he would rather be safely far out at sea than near the 
coast, unless he could ride it out in some safe harbour. 
These differences between the ancient and the modern 
seaman are due to the increase in the size and seaworthiness of 
ships, and to the universal use nowadays of the compass, an in- 
strument unknown to the ancients. Nowadays, too, steam 
has changed things, for ships that carry, in their hulls, pow- 
erful engines capable of successfully combating the wind 
need fear that danger of the sea far less. 

Many books on seamanship have been written since 
Captain John Smith and Sir Henry Manwayring published 
theirs. “‘Modern Seamanship,” by Admiral Austin M. 
Knight, U. S. N., is a deservedly popular work, even though 
it is largely given over to the art in its connection with ships 
of war. The fact, too, that it contains 250,000 or more 


al 














So 
yeaa 
AAS AASSSSSSS 
CSssele as 


















\ 
SS) WAN 


—Z 
SSSA 





KNOT SERVING LINE BEND SHEEP SHANK 































me es a8 * } 

<2 PS rit —=N FPS eT y Kay mea FS 
mS) DS oS SSeS CEN ss 
PES SSS v BZ: RSS PSSA Rep SOSsessS Se CASS SSMU 


> R SS 
4 SSSR 






HAWSER LGEND FISHERMAN S ?2V0T ROUND TURN AND 
TWo HALF HITCHES 


irks 


\"" L7SHERMANS 
- BUTCH 








ROLLING HIT? BLACK WALL LTABLIN SPIKE 
#2/T CH 


A EYE 
ON BIGHT &% SLICE, 
if 





A PAGE OF KNOTS IN COMMON USE 


193 


194. SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


words shows how great the subject is, and how superficial 
my brief discussion must be. 

The first duty of a sailor is to be familiar with his ship 
and the apparatus he is called upon to use. In the days of 
the clippers every sailor had to know how to perform almost 
every task. Many ships of that time carried cooks, sail- 
makers, and carpenters, it is true, and the duties of these 
men were for them alone. But every sailor was likely to be 
called upon to reef or steer, to handle an oar in a small 
boat, to splice lines and tie knots of all sorts, to re-rig spars 
and masts, man the pumps, paint, scrub, scrape woodwork, 
and perform a thousand other tasks with precision and 
rapidity. He had sometimes to “lay aloft” and in the 
blackness of bitter wintry nights to find his way along the 
foot-rope of a swaying spar far above the deck in order to 
reef sleet-covered sails that whipped repeatedly from his 
stiffening fingers. He had to know each of a thousand lines 
by name so as to belay or release the right one at a moment’s 
notice, even in the blackness of a night of storm. He had 
sometimes to make his way far out along the bowsprit to 
the jib boom or the flying jib boom in order to release some 
tangle of wind-whipped line, and to hold on for dear life as 
mountainous seas dashed their angry foam-flecked crests 
viciously at him as he maintained his precarious hold. He 
had to know what strain the whistling rigging could hold up 
under, and how to repair the damage wrought by storm. 
He had to beach his ship in far-distant ports and between: 
the tides to scrape her bottom and calk her leaking seams. 
He had to know his ship from bow to stérn, from truck to 
keel, and must ever have been ready to turn his hand to 
whatever task might momentarily have required him. It 
is no wonder that it took years to make a sailor. The wonder 
is that men were found to risk their lives in storm, to eat 
the disgusting food that such ships too often fed their 


THE ART OF SEAMANSHIP 195 


crews, to toil for months—for years—for trifling pay, beaten 
by their officers for minor as well as major breaches of dis- 
cipline, yet willing, once a voyage was done, to spend their 
little savings in one wild fling and ship once more. 

But most of that is gone. Sailors on the steamships that 
circle the earth to-day are mechanics and workmen. The 
man at the wheel can be taught his job passably well in a 
few hours. The men on deck are often not sailors at all, 





BEARINGS AND POINTS OF SAILING 


in the old meaning of the word, but merely labourers, who 
work at their appointed tasks under the direction of the 
officers, many of whom would be all but helpless if called 
upon to handle a square-rigged ship under sail. 

But that is no reflection on the sailors of to-day. Their 
jobs are different and the wide experience and knowledge 
of the sailor of earlier days would benefit them little. Of 
what use is the ability to reef a sail to a sailor on a ship where 
there is nothing made of canvas save tarpaulins and awnings? 
Why know the intricacies of a sailing ship’s complicated 
rigging when one comes in contact only with ships on which 


196 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


the rigging is limited to steel masts and cargo booms? Why 
should one develop an eye for changes in the weather when a 
barometer can foretell it for one? Some of the old ways 
still leave their mark, but mechanics are of more service on 
the ships of to-day than sailors. 

Here and there one still finds sailors comparable or even 
superior to the rough-and-ready men of years gone by. 
The fishermen of Gloucester are such men, but an able 
captain could more easily take a steamer across the ocean 
with a crew of mechanics who never before saw the sea, 
than with a crew of Gloucester fishermen who had had no 
experience with machinery. All of this was proved during 
the World War when Britain largely manned her M Ls, 
those tiny motor cruisers built to hunt for submarines, 
with men who first went to sea in those unsteady ships of 
war. And America, in 1917 and 1918, sent across the 
Atlantic scores of craft only slightly larger—the 110-footers 
—most of them officered and manned with college boys and 
others who had had no experience at sea. And of all the 
scores that went over and came back in the service of the 
United States Navy, not one was lost because of storm or 
shipwreck. 

But I do not mean to imply by this that the need for 
seamanship is gone. Farfromit. Seamanship has changed, 
not disappeared, and more knowledge, though of a different 
sort, is needed to operate a steamer than to operate a sailing 
ship. 

A sailor still has need to know the many knots that 
earlier seamen used so constantly. The square knot and 
the bowline are, perhaps, the most important of the lot, 
but the fishermen’s bend and the timber hitch, the catspaw 
and the sheepshank, the single and double Blackwall hitches, 
the figure of eight, the bowline on a bight, the rolling hitch, 
and a dozen others are useful still. But nowadays wire rope 


THE ART OF SEAMANSHIP 197 


is commoner than formerly, so thimble eyes and wire rope 
clips, turnbuckles, shackles, and other apparatus used with 
wire rope are useful things with which to be familiar. And 
still it is advisable to know how 
to splice both hemp and wire 
rope. But the Turk’s head, the 
double Matthew Walker, and 
others of that type are less in 
evidence than formerly. 
More rope is used to-day in 
the movement of cargo than in _ HOW A FORE-AND-AFT SAIL IS 
rigging, but sailors have little GO ie seit is astty ape vie 
do with the cargoes of ships. points are tied beneath the sail and 
Crews are used nowadays style om, and le silt (hen 
merely to handle the ships, has been held by the reef points and 
; is not spread to the wind. 
while stevedores at every port 
load and unload, stow and break out the freight that fills the 
great holds. 
Few really nautical things, in the old sense, are asked of 
modern sailors. ‘They must be able to steer, although many 
ships have quartermasters whose duties are only those that 
have to do with the bridge. They must be able to handle the 
“ground tackle,” that is, the anchors and cables, but that is 
simple, for one has only to throw off a few lashings and pull a 
lever in order that the anchor may plunge to the bottom as 
the cable roars through the hawse pipe. ‘To weigh anchor 
a steam valve is opened, or an electric switch is turned, and 
a windlass brings in link after link until the anchor once 
more is snugly in place, while the hawse pipe drips water 
and the anchor flukes drip mud. The sailor then has only 
to wash the mud from the flukes with a hose, clamp down a 
“slip stopper” to make the cable secure, and the task is done. 
' Sailors are supposed to know how to lower and handle the 
lifeboats, and many of them do, but alas, the smartness of 


keeef Point — 
“Souare”™, 

poses ed phe ke 
refed part of sail 
keef Ferdarls 


SCCUTL72 







198 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


small boats under oars is almost gone. Such a thing takes 
practice and codrdination, and few indeed are the merchant 
ships to-day that can muster a boat crew worthy of the name. 
And even that is less necessary than it was, for motor boats 
do the work in ports, and lifeboats need only float for a 
time before they are picked up by some ship that has caught 
the radio call for help. And to float they need no seamen, 
for nowadays they are both noncapsizable and practically 
unsinkable. 

If a ship goes aground where there is no help, the old 
method of using small boats to carry an anchor out to sea- 
ward and of hauling the ship off by means of a cable made 
fast to the anchor, is seldom enough in these days of large 
ships to accomplish the task. The unfortunate ship is 
either beyond help, save for her crew, or needs a sea-going 
tug or two and a crew of professional salvagers. 

And so I could go on through many more phases of sea- 
manship, proving that the knowledge required of deck 
hands is less than formerly. But the knowledge required 
of officers is another matter. 

Officers must know an infinite number of things that a 
deck hand need not trouble himself to learn. They must 
know how to manceuvre to avoid collision, an important 
matter in these days of many ships and busy sea lanes. 
They must know the rules of the road, for every ship one 
passes close to must be signalled in order that her officers 
may know exactly what the approaching ship is planning to 
-do. An officer must know a hundred different arrangements 
of lights at night, which may mark ships under sail, under 
power, at anchor, with barges in tow, ships not under com- 
mand, buoys, lighthouses, cable vessels, pilot ships, fisher- 
men with their gear drifting about them, open boats, and 
a variety of other things. He should be able to signal in 
the International Code with a flashlight. He must know 


THE ART OF SEAMANSHIP 199 


how to handle his ship in heavy weather in order that her 
hull shall not be unduly strained, her upper works unduly 
battered, or her cargo shifted. He should be adept at han- 
dling his ship around a dock, and must be equally adept at 
making her fast alongside pier or quay. He must know 
what to do in case of collision, in case of fire, in case any of a 
score of contingencies arise. He must be familiar with first 
aid and the use of medicines, for few ships carry doctors. 
He must be seaman enough for all his crew, for on him rests 
a great responsibility—the responsibility for a great and 
costly machine, for valuable cargoes, for the health, and 
even for the lives, of many men. Should a man ashore be 
employed to manage a factory as costly as a ten-thousand- 
ton ship, with an output as valuable as the cargoes of such 
a ship, he would be paid many times what a captain is paid, 
and, should fire destroy his factory or tornado crush it, he 














: : see ) 
\\wad Timi 
DAT ‘é oe ayy j 
| ho i 4 Vy H 








| 
am 


» mn; 
q Pe rai 


At \ jee y Sim ng Hq x NV am i 
, \ ii ATS a ! AN \ 16 | 





v 







Nl 


] 


| 





il 


ee ; EW 
Bie ety S Tueeie: te ee ero : 1 ate 
oe : Senne 


Ster. : Breast Bow 
Fi00 o > fobs = LZirte dere 


A FREIGHTER TIED UP TO A PIER 


The lines shown running from the ship to the pier are often used in slightly 
different arrangements, but always it is advisable to run lines diagonally in 
order that slight movements of the ship away from the pier may be checked 
gradually and without breaking the lines. Furthermore, this arrangement pre- 
vents movement ahead or astern. | 


200 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


would probably be given the insurance money in order to 
build another. Not so the captain. His responsibility is 
as great or greater; his experience and ability must be at 
least as great; his pay is little; and should a tempest tear his 
ship apart beneath him he is likely to be doomed for ever 
after to stay ashore, a broken captain, and probably a 
broken-hearted man. 

The captain of a sailing ship must be familiar with many 
things that the captain of a steamer need not know. As in 
practically every other line of modern endeavour, the han- 
dling of ships has developed specialists. The chief engineer 
is responsible for the motive power of ships to-day. And he 
need know nothing more than how to operate the machinery. 
The captain need only know, so far as power is concerned, 
whether he wants the propeller to drive him ahead or astern 
and how fast, and how to use his propellers in tight places. 
The argument as to who is more important to the ship, 
despite ifs futility, still sometimes waxes strong. Both 
are essential, for the engineer harnesses the steam that 
drives the ship. He must be subject to the commands of 
the captain, who formerly had need himself to know how to 
harness power by means of sails, which were his engines. 

To a traveller unfamiliar with ships the captain of a steamer 
seems generally to have an easy job. The mates stand the 
watches on the bridge, the engineers below, and often a 
captain is actively engaged in handling his ship only in 
leaving and arriving at ports. For the remainder of his 
time at sea he reads or paces the deck, takes his meals 
regularly, and does little else save make observations with 
his sextant in the morning, at noon, and in the afternoon, 
spending at this task hardly more than a few minutes each 
day. These are his activities during fine weather, which, 
fortunately, is most of the time. If fog and storm intervene, 
the story is a different one, and every captain finds it neces- 



















‘| 
\ AN Es 


SS 
ENTINE 


‘ EN 
Lives 


\ a: 3 6 Bak 


















SLOOP "LUGGER SLIDING GUNTER 
A FEW TYPES OF SAILING SHIPS COMMON IN EUROPEAN AND 
AMERICAN WATERS 


201 


202 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


sary, at times, to spend whole days and nights on the bridge, 
his food brought to him, his every sense alert to take ad- 
vantage of each opportunity the elements present to ease 
his ship, to keep her on her course, to watch, if land is near, 
lest breakers and black rocks should be his port of call. 

Nor should a captain content himself with knowing how to 
handle his ship in heavy weather. A knowledge of the causes 
and actions of storms is highly important. From a barome- 
ter much can be deduced about changes in the weather, and 
if one knows what to expect he is likely better to be able to 
meet it. 

I said that a man could be taught to steer passably well 
in a few hours, and that is true at sea. But the steering of a 
ship amounts to more than holding her to her course across 
wide stretches of smooth water. Many a ship has been 
saved from collision because her officers knew accurately her 
‘turning circle,” her “pivoting point, ’ her “kick,” and other 
fine points of her steering. It could readily happen if two 
ships were approaching each other “‘ bow on”’ that they could 
safely pass if each put her rudder half over to the right, and 
that their sterns or even their sides would collide if each 
put her rudder full over to the right. Such a thing is due 
to the fact that ships steer with their sterns. To change a 
ship’s direction to the right the rudder moves her stern to 
the left. It is as if an automobile were being backed. To 
turn a corner its hind wheels would not change their course 
until the front wheels had been swung sharply to one side. 

Then, too, ships steer differently in shallow water than in 
deep. Sometimes a ship which, at sea, is responsive to the 
lightest shift of her rudder will behave like mad in a shallow 
channel. This is due to the shape of the hull and the paths 
followed by the displaced water as it flows past her sides and 
beneath her keel. In shallow water, the water that normally 
would flow beneath her cannot all do so, and the result is 





NW [} 
nat 
vis 























q 
| 


INS 


is es 


| 
Hf 
im: 





— es ae i) L—— 
ee 











FRENCH CHASSE-MAREE SCOTCH ZULU 






ae 


Hf Lr TE 








SS alee 5 
—_—> — 
———_ —— 





PENZANCE LUCCER MEDITERRANEAN FELUCCA INDIAN SAMPAN 
A FEW TYPES OF SAILING BOATS TO BE FOUND AROUND THE WORLD 


203 


204 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


likely to be a difference in the way she answers her helm. 
For other reasons a ship must not be driven too rapidly 
through a shallow channel. I once saw a ship drawing 
seventeen feet ground sharply in the eighteen-foot channel 
leading into St. George, Bermuda, for at the speed she was 
making she was pushing a part of the water ahead of her 
and lowering the water level of the channel by more than a 
foot. Ships running on parallel courses at a considerable 
speed should not permit their courses to be too close, else a 
similar thing might happen, bringing them forcibly together. 
This kappened to the Olympic and a British cruiser years 
ago in the English Channel. 

These are only a few of the many things that might arise 
in handling ships. Other possible contingencies are almost 
infinite in number. Furthermore, it is the experience of 
sailors that no two ships, no matter how nearly they may 
be alike, are identical in their actions. This belief (and it 
has a very great deal of truth behind it) has probably had 
more than a little to do with the habit, that seems natural to 
seamen, of personifying ships. In addition to the fact that 
all ships have characteristic ways of their own, most ships 
react differently under different conditions of loading and 
when carrying their varying cargoes. A tramp loaded with 
iron ore will sometimes be uncomfortable in heavy weather 
even though she may be thoroughly comfortable in a similar 
storm when loaded with coal. The reason for this lies in 
the fact that iron ore, being heavy, loads a ship to her Plim- 
soll mark without filling her holds. Thus the heavy cargo 
gives the ship a low “centre of gravity”’ and she may roll 
heavily and constantly. Coal, on the other hand, is lighter 
than ore, and a cargo fills her hold to overflowing, raising 
her centre of gravity and reducing the roll. The captain, 
however, must know just how his ship handles whether she 
is carrying ore, or coal, or any of a score of different cargoes. 


THE ART OF SEAMANSHIP 205 


Let us take an imaginary voyage on a ship in order to see 
what seamanship is required of her officers and crew. Sup- 
pose we board a ship of 3,500 tons, loaded with coal, at 
Philadelphia, bound for Havana. The voyage is short, but 
a variety of conditions of weather and of climate will be 
contended with and the voyage will be a test of seamanship. 
Remember, however, that such a ship is far different from 
ships intended for passengers. Heavy weather will dash 
waves across her decks when the decks of passenger ships 
will remain entirely dry. This ship was not built for passen- 
gers and her decks are low and are unprotected from the 
sea. 

The ship casts off from the pier above the city with the 
first mate in command, the captain being still ashore attend- 
ing to the requirements laid down by law and seeing his 
owners. ‘The tide being slack, and the currents temporarily 
stilled, a tug is not called. The steamer is lying with her 
stern to the river and with her starboard or right side next 
the pier. Six lines make her fast: a line leading from the 
starboard bow well up the dock—the bow line; a line leading 
from the same pair of “bits” directly to the dock—the bow 
breast line; a third line from about the same point at the bow, 
along the pier for a distance toward the stern—the bow spring. 
From “bits” on the starboard quarter—that is, at the right 
side, a little forward of the stern—three other lines are led 
similarly to the pier, and are named stern spring, stern breast, 
and stern lines, the last reaching as far astern as the bow line 
reaches ahead. 

The lines, except for the bow spring, are cast off, and with 
this one line still fast from the bow aft along the pier, the 
mate orders the helmsman to throw his helm hard over to 
port. This brings the rudder to starboard, that is, toward 
the dock, and when the mate signals the engine room for 
“slow speed ahead” the stream of water from the propeller 


206 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


against the rudder swings the stern slowly away from the pier 
for the line from the bow to the pier does not permit the ship 
to forge ahead. When the stern is well clear of the pier the 
mate signals “‘stop”’ to the engine room, orders the last line 
thrown off, the helm amidships, that is, neither to the right 
nor to the left, signals “slow speed astern,’ and the ship 
slowly backs out of the slip. As she slides clear of the end 
of the pier the helm is put over to port once more, the stern 
swings gradually upstream, and as the bow swings around 
parallel to the shore the helm is again brought amidships, 
the engines are stopped and then signalled for “slow speed 
ahead’’ once more, and the voyage is begun. 

As the ship loafs slowly down past the foot of Market 
Street a tug puffs up alongside, our captain steps from its 
bow to the rail of our ship, for we are deeply laden, and the 
lowest sections of our decks are hardly more than four 
feet above water, waves to the skipper of ‘the tug, mounts 
to the bridge, speaks to the mate, orders “half speed ahead,” 
and we steam sedately through the ferry lanes and gradually 
leave the busy section of the river behind. 

Usually a pilot is aboard, but sometimes port rules permit 
captains to take their own ships out, and with an American 
ship loaded with coal out of Philadelphia that is the case, 
saving the owners the expense of the pilot. So our captain, 
sitting on a high office stool, which looks very much out of 
place on the bridge, takes us down the river, turning here 
and there as he makes out the buoys, which are red and 
conical to port and black and cylindrical to starboard as we 
leave the port. 

As the deeper water of Delaware Bay is reached the speed 
is increased to its maximum, which is only about nine knots 
an hour, and the captain, after hours on the bridge, is re- 
lieved by the first mate and goes below. 

The ship, having been loaded with coal, at a “coal pocket,” 


THE ART OF SEAMANSHIP 207 


where tons and tons have roared down into her holds through 
great chutes, is covered with a thick layer of coal dust, and 
looks like an unfit habitation for men. The deck hands are 
set to work cleaning the deck amidships, but one wonders 
if the ship will ever be clean again. And then the first of 
the swells from the Atlantic raises her bow gently. Another 
follows and another, and then one climbs straight over the 
blunt bow, cascades over the forecastle, and one begins 
to realize that the tumbling waves are already at work 
cleaning the dust from the grimy ship. 

Dusk has fallen, and the Fourteen-Foot-Bank Lighthouse 
and the one on Cape May gleam mysteriously, and as dark- 
ness hides the restless sea the lights still gleam. A steamer 
passes us, her running lights and range lights clear green and 
red and white, and then we are alone, bound outward to the 
heaving bosom of the great Atlantic. The light on Cape 
May fades from sight, and only the fading ray from the 
Fourteen-Foot-Bank Lighthouse is left to bind us to the busy 
world of North America—and finally that, too, is gone, and 
we are alone upon the dark and pathless sea beneath a clouded 
sky, dependent for our directions upon a swaying compass 
card lighted by a dim lamp mounted in the side of the brass 
binnacle. 

As we passed the Fourteen-Foot-Bank Lighthouse, and 
were able accurately to check our position on the chart, the 
log, a sort of nautical odometer that tells with a fair degree 
of accuracy the mileage travelled, was set in motion by 
heaving the rotator over the stern at the end of the log line. 
This rotator, set in motion by the passage of the water, 
twists the line to which it is attached, and the line, in turn, 
rotates the mechanism that records the mileage. It is very 
similar to the speedometer on the dash of the automobile 
except that it shows only the mileage. 

If we visit the bridge we may learn from the mate on duty 


208 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


that the barometer has fallen a little, and that we probably 
will have a touch of heavy weather by morning. 

We turn in in a comfortable stateroom situated in the 
deck house just aft the bridge, and, leaving the port open, 
for ventilation, go almost instantly to sleep, forgetful of the 
man at the wheel, who stands with his eyes fixed on the 
slightly moving compass card, turning the wheel first this way 
and then that, absolutely confident in the unerring compass. 

Outside, pacing back and forth on the bridge, is a mate, 
who went on watch at eight and will be relieved at twelve. 
As he leans over the port rail for a moment, the red rays 
from the port running light palely illuminate his tanned 
face. He is confident of his ship, confident of the engineers 
and firemen below, confident of the man at the wheel, and 
is calm and contented. 

During the next seven or eight hours the storm gradually 
approaches. Higher and higher roll the waves, deeper and 
deeper rolls the ship, and suddenly we are aroused by the 
crash of a sea that mounts the side, dashes across the deck, 
and pours in a great stream through our open port. Shocked 
instantly into consciousness we leap from our bunks, into 
the inch or two of water that is swishing about the stateroom, 
and close the port, just too late to save ourselves from a 
wetting. But our interest is aroused by the dull gray sea, 
the rising and falling waves, the driving spray, and, quickly 
dressing, we hurry out on deck and up to the bridge, fearful, 
perhaps, that trouble is at hand. But once on the bridge 
everyone is calm—no one is worried. Another mate, now 
on duty, sings out a cheery “Good morning’; the man at 
the wheel looks up, nods, and drops his eyes once more to 
the compass card. We tell of our wetting and are laughed 
at, and the ships goes rolling and pitching on, the waves 
piling one after another over her weather rail, filling the 
low deck forward of the bridge, gurgling around the hatches, 


THE ART OF SEAMANSHIP 209 


and finally pouring back into the sea in cascades through the 


scuppers. Now and again the combination of the ship’s roll 
and an advancing wave forces a great foamy cloud high over 


| 





THE RIGGING OF A THREE-MASTED SHIP 


(1) Foremast; (2) Mainmast; (3) Mizzenmast; (4) Fore, main, and 
mizzen-topmasts; (5) Fore, main, and mizzen topgallant masts; (6) Fore, 
main, and mizzen royal and skysail masts; (7) Fore yard; (8) Main 
yard; (9) Crossjack yard; (10) Fore, main, and mizzen lower topsail 
yards; (11) Fore, main, and mizzen upper topsail yards; (12) Fore, 
main, and mizzen lower topgallant yards; (13) Fore, main, and mizzen 
upper topgallant yards; (14) Fore, main, and mizzen royal yards; (15) 
Fore, main, and mizzen skysail yards; (16) Spanker gaff; (17) Fore and 
main trysail gaffs; (18) Lower shrouds; (19) Topmast shrouds; (20) 
Back stays; (21) Fore skysail stay; (22) Fore royal stay; (23) Flying jib 
stay; (24) Fore topgallant stay; (25) Jib stay; (26) Fore topmast stays; 
(27) Fore stays; (28) Main skysail stay; (29) Main topgallant stay; (30) 
Main topmast stay; (31) Mizzen skysail stay; (32) Fore and main lifts; 
(33) Topsail lifts; (34) Topgallant lifts; (35) Spanker boom; (36) 
Bowsprit; (37) Jib boom; (38) Flying jib-boom; (39) Martingale or 
dolphin striker; (40) Braces (named from the yard to which they are at- 
tached) ; (41) Bobstays; (42) Martingale stays. 


the bow, where the spray is caught by the wind which 
whistles aft with it, stinging our faces and leaving a pleasant 
taste of salt upon our lips. 


210 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


The sky is still overcast, and as eight o’clock comes the 
clouds grow heavier, if anything, making it impossible for 
the officers to take the elevation of the sun with their sextants 
in order to work out our position. But the record of the 
log is taken, a line is drawn from our “point of departure” 
off Cape May, drawn at the angle from that point that our 
helmsmen have been steering, and the distance we have 
run—92 miles, since the evening before—is marked on that 
line, giving us our position according to dead reckoning. 

Our course has been south, and so, while in the position 
we have there may be an error of two or three miles marked, 
we know that we are not far wrong, and that we are safely 
out at sea, about fifty miles due east of Cape Charles, which 
is at the entrance to Chesapeake Bay. 

The captain now has a decision to make: The action of the 
barometer suggests that heavy weather will continue for a 
while—which is not surprising, for we are approaching Cape 
Hatteras, where storms are perennial. If the sky remains 
overcast we will not be able to get a glimpse of the sun, and 
consequently will not be able to work out our position, and 
dead reckoning, while accurate enough for short runs, is 
liable to grow progressively inaccurate if the run is long. 
In addition to all this we must either change our course to 
the east in order to cross the Gulf Stream, or a little to the 
west in order to stay between it and the coast, for it is 
wasted effort to go against a strong current when it isn't 
necessary. Even if we cross the Gulf Stream to its outer 
edge we may have to go for several days without a sight of 
thesun. If we stay inside it we probably won’t see the sun any 
sooner, but we can pass close to Diamond Shoal Lightship, 
which lies off Cape Hatteras, and so check up our position. 

The captain decides for this latter course, after studying 
the barometer again and deciding that the chance for more 
violent weather is slight, and with a mark on the chart for 


THE ART OF SEAMANSHIP 211 


our position at 8 a.m. the course is changed slightly to the 
west of south. 

All day we roll and pitch, not badly, but very steadily, 
but from the calmness of everyone about us we, too, view 
the gale as of no great importance. Nor is it, for, while the 
wind is kicking up a rough sea, the waves are far from moun- 
tainous, and in our deeply laden condition almost anything 
more than a ripple would wash over our low forward deck. 

We have our meals and return after each one to the bridge 
—always the most interesting place on a ship, particularly 
in heavy weather—but by the time darkness has returned 
we have seen nothing on the gray and “‘smoky”’ sea save, in 
the distance, a steamer, that has been lost to view again, 
and a schooner under double-reefed sails that passed us 
bound north during the afternoon. 
_ We are ready to turn in early, for all day on the bridge 
with the spray-laden wind blowing strongly in our faces 
has been tiring. We leave word to be called when Diamond 
Shoal Lightship is sighted, and roll into our bunks. 
_ At four-thirty in the morning we are called, and bundling 
ourselves into our clothes we stumble out on deck. The 
wind has increased, and sweeps back from the bow furiously 
and heavy with moisture. The ship is rolling deeply, and ever 
and anon a huge wave pounds heavily on the high steel bow. 
_ Up on the bridge the captain is pacing in his oilskins, and 
with him is the mate, but the night is dark and we stumble 
against them ere our unaccustomed eyes can make them out. 
| “She’s blowing a bit,” shouts the captain, and we silently 
agree to his very obvious remark. 
_ “Have you picked up Diamond Shoal Lightship)” we 
shout in return. 
_ “There it is,” he replies, “two points off the starboard 
bow.” 
_ But search as we will in the blackness ahead we cannot 


212 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


make it out, until, our eyes having become more accustomed 
to the darkness, it shows up like a pin prick in a black curtain, 
showing now and then, and lost to sight as much as it is 
visible. 

The gale has grown stronger and is almost from dead 
ahead, while the huge waves cascade over the forecastle, 
roaring and tumbling—gray with phosphorescence in the 
darkness. 

The eastern sky pales slowly, and gradually the morning 
comes, ghostly and without colour. The sky is gray, the 
sea is gray, flecked everywhere with white, and nothing is in 
sight as daylight comes. The lightship is invisible, and 
everywhere about us is the tumbling water. 

We go below and have breakfast from a table on which 
the racks are placed to keep the dishes from crashing to the 
deck. We return to the bridge, and still the lightship is not 
visible. Have we passed it? No, we learn. For the last 
four hours we have made, perhaps, two miles, for a heavily 
laden freighter capable of only nine knots at the best is not 
able to make much headway against the current and such a 
gale off Hatteras. 

By noon the lightship can be seen intermittently in its 
waste of boiling sea, and all afternoon we can see it occa- 
sionally as it slowly passes astern. But we have checked 
our position from it and have a new “point of departure” 
from which to lay our course for the south. 

During the evening the captain tells us that the barometer 
has risen somewhat and that we may look for fine weather 
in the morning. We turn in, hoping for fine weather, but 
glad to have been through a Cape Hatteras blow. 

And in the morning we look out through our port on to a 
summer sea. A swell is running, it is true, and the ship 
still rolls, but the sky is blue, the sea is blue, and a school 
of porpoises are leaping gaily from the water alongside. 


THE ART OF SEAMANSHIP 213 





THE SAILS OF A FOUR-MASTED SHIP 


(1) Foresail; (2) Mainsail; (3) Crossjack; (4) Jigger; (5) Lower foretop- 

_ sail; (6) Lower main topsail; (7) Lower mizzen topsail; (8) Lower jigger top- 

- sail; (9) Upper fore topsail; (10) Upper main topsail; (41) Upper mizzen 

topsail; (12) Upper jigger topsail; (43) Fore topgallant sail; (14) Main top- 

gallant sail; (15) Mizzen topgallant sail; (46) Jigger topgallant sail; (17) Fore 

_ royal; (18) Main royal; (19) Mizzen royal; (20) Jigger royal; (21) Fore sky- 

sail; (22) Main skysail; (23) Mizzen skysail; (24) Jigger skysail; (25) Fly- 

ing jib; (26) Outer jib; (27) Jib; (28) Fore topmast staysail; (29) Spanker; 

_ (30) Buntlines; (31) Leechlines; (32) Reeftackles; (33) Braces; (34) Fore- 

_ Sheet; (35) Fore topmast staysail sheet; (36) Jib-sheet; (37) Outer jib-sheet; 
(38) Flying jib-sheet. 


1 


_ Our course has been changed to southwest, and after 
breakfast the captain and his mates take the sun’s altitude, 
work out our longitude, and compare notes. At noon our 
latitude is worked out, and about four o’clock our longitude 
again. 

~ On the evening of the third day we check our position 
again when Cape Canaveral is picked up. The next after- 
noon we pass Palm Beach, with its hotels and bathers plainly 
visible as we hug the shore in order to keep away from the 
strong current of the Gulf Stream. We follow the curve 


214 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


of the Florida coast and the Florida Keys for another twenty- 
four hours, and then strike across the dark blue water of 
the Gulf Stream for Havana. 

When we appear on deck the next morning we learn that, 
having reached the Cuban coast while it was still dark, we 
have been forced to lie to until daylight should bring the 
pilot boat out. 

Finally the pilot appears and the ship heads for the narrow 
harbour entrance. <A triangular pennant, which from its 
appearance might have been cut from an American flag, 
flies on a staff on Morro Castle, signalling the arrival of an 
American merchant ship. A motor boat comes up alongside 
and a port doctor comes aboard. We are all lined up while 
he looks us over hurriedly, signs his report, and leaves. 
The ship has made her way slowly into the little harbour, 
and finally her engines are stopped, her anchor is let go, 
and with the roar of the cable through the hawse pipe the 
voyage is ended. 

Such a voyage as this is not unique. Thousands of ships 
on thousands of routes go through similar experiences. 
Whole voyages are often taken without a hint of storm. 
Whole voyages, again, are taken through continuous and 
unending storm. Ships sometimes come into Halifax or 
Boston caked with ice—their rigging inches thick with it, 
their bulwarks buried. Again, typhoons drive ships upon 
dark rocks, or overladen ships capsize because of storm. 
But consider the thousands that sail the sea—consider the 
fact that not a storm can blow across the great stretches 
of the unfrozen seas without engulfing many ships within 
its mighty grasp. Yet with all this one rarely reads of 
shipwreck—there are few ships that find their ends in storm. 

And this is because men build ships sturdily and handle 
them adeptly. ‘Their art is seamanship, and after all, they 
are artists. 


CHAPTER X 
THE SCIENCE OF NAVIGATION 


mee TION, I may be permitted to repeat, is the 
mathematical science of finding ships’ positions at sea 
and of laying down courses to be followed. For the designa- 
tion of positions latitude and longitude are used, latitude 
being measured north and south from the equator to the 
north and south poles, the equator being zero degrees of 
latitude, the poles being ninety degrees north and ninety 
degrees south latitude. Longitude is measured from zero 
degrees to 180 degrees east and west from the meridian run- 
ning from the North Pole to the South through Greenwich, 
England, 180 degrees east longitude marking the same meri- 
dian as 180 degrees west longitude. For instance, Three 
‘Kings Island, the tiny island which is the northernmost 
land of the New Zealand group, is located as follows: 
Latitude 34° South; Longitude 172° East. This means 
‘that this island is 34 degrees south of the equator and 172 
‘degrees east of the meridian of Greenwich. Actually naviga- 
tion is a problem in spherical trigonometry and astronomy, 
depending principally, nowadays, upon an instrument called 
‘a sextant, which is used to measure the altitude above the 
horizon of a celestial body (sun, moon, or stars), and upon 
‘a very accurate timepiece, called a chronometer, which 
‘shows the time of a given meridian—generally the meridian 
of Greenwich, England. 

In practice, however, it is necessary to know no mathe- 
matics other than arithmetic, for the formulas have been 
‘simplified and handbooks have been compiled which elimi- 

215 


216 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


nate any necessity for the practical navigator to delve into” 


the intricacies of spherical trigonometry, a subject that would 
frighten most sea captains more than all the other perils of 
the deep. 

There is another but less accurate method, called “‘dead 
reckoning,’ which is used in connection with the more 
accurate science, and is used by itself when clouds obscure 
the sky or fogs hide the horizon. When land is in sight both 
these methods largely or entirely give way to “piloting,” 
which makes possible the accurate finding of a ship’s position 
by reference to known objects ashore. 

I shall not attempt to explain all the intricacies of naviga- 
‘tion, for even a simplified complete explanation would in 
itself become a small book. There are many books on 
navigation. Nathaniel Bowditch’s exhaustive treatises have 
been revised many times and the whole compilation is kept 
up to date so that, while Bowditch himself died in 1838, 
the book bearing his name, and still referred to almost uni- 
versally as “Bowditch,” is accepted as a peerless authority. 
But it is a huge tome, and other practical books, such as 
“Elements of Navigation,” by W. J. Henderson, are availa- 
ble for the person who wishes to profit by a simpler, if 
less exhaustive, explanation. ‘To these two books, and toa 
dozen others, I refer the interested reader anxious to learn 
what, after all, is beyond the range of this outline. 

Up to the 15th Century the science of navigation was 
unknown. Before that time mariners occasionally ven- 
tured out of sight of land, for short passages during which, 
because they had no compasses, they attempted to guide 
themselves by reference to the sun or stars. When clouds 
obscured the sky, however, they usually lost their direction, 
and even when the sky was clear they knew no way of as- 
certaining anything more than rough approximations of 
the cardinal points. 


| 
| 


THE SCIENCE OF NAVIGATION 217 


It seems just a bit strange that sailors were so backward 
in developing means of determining their positions at sea by 
reference to the sun and stars, while even the ancients were 
fairly accurate in their ability to locate their positions ashore 
by such methods. This undoubtedly was as much due to the 
lack of general knowledge among sailors as it was to the 
unsteadiness of the ships themselves which made it difficult 
for careful astronomical observations to be made. But 
whatever the reason, the fact remains that it was not until 
after the introduction of the compass that navigation began 
to make its first faltering advances. 

That this beginning was made during the period in which 






Ly 
i 


EO nr 


t 
SS > ” 
ie Th 








USING A CROSS STAFF 


This crude instrument was used in an attempt to work out problems in lati- 
lude. After holding one end of the staff to the eye and sliding the cross staff 
along until the observer sighted over one end at the sun and under the other at 
the horizon, the instrument was placed on a circle marked in degrees, and the 
angle was determined. 


218 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


Portugal expanded her commerce only goes again to show 
that the application of new minds to old problems results, 
almost invariably, in progress. 

Columbus, of course, did not begin the era of discovery. 
Prince Henry, the “navigator,’”’ sent out an expedition from 
Portugal in 1432 which rediscovered the Azores—an aston- 
ishing thing for times so early, for the Azores lie 830 miles 
west of Portugal and are farther from a continental mainland 
than any other of the islands of the Atlantic. That the 
islands were known to the ancients, however, is proved by 
numerous Carthaginian coins found on the island of Corvo, 
but their location and practically everything else concerning 
them seems to have been lost until Henry the Navigator 
attached them to Portugal. 

But the rediscovery of the Azores proves only that the 
sailors put great faith in their compasses, and sailed, despite 
their fears, out to the west where all of them knew (it was 
no matter of mere belief) that the sea ended somewhere 
suddenly, and that their cockleshell ships would, if they but 
sailed to the edge, fall down the smooth green cataract of an 
awful, endless waterfall, into limitless space, or, mayhap, 
to the vast foundations upon which the world was built. 
To them it was as if a canoe were being paddled downstream 
to the brink of a cataract to which Niagara itself would be 
but a raindrop falling from the eaves. 

At the time of the rediscovery of the Azores navigation 
was, with the exception of the compass, without any of the 
instruments that later came into use. Prince Henry, how- 
ever, realizing the importance of compiling information 
useful to mariners, systematized all the information available 
and erected an observatory to determine more accurately 
the data in reference to the declination of the sun. 

Most navigators use the sun far more than any of the other 
celestial bodies in order to determine their positions, and 


THE SCIENCE OF NAVIGATION 219 


the first thing necessary is to know its declination—that is, 
its distance north or south of the equator. 

During the course of a year the movement of the earth, 
with its axis inclined at an angle to the plane in which it 
moves about the sun, brings the sun vertically over every 
section of the earth from twenty-three and one half degrees 
north of the equator to twenty-three and one half degrees 
south and back again. 

During the year, then, the sun is twice directly over our 
equator. Suppose at noon on one of these days a mariner 
wishes to determine his latitude, that is, his distance in 
degrees, minutes, and seconds north or south of the equator. 
He measures, with his sextant, the angle between the sun 
and the horizon. If he were on the equator that angle 
would be ninety degrees, for the sun would be directly over 
his head. He would then subtract the angle shown by his 
sextant from ninety, the number of degrees between the 
horizon and the zenith. In this case the answer would be 
zero. ‘Therefore his latitude would be 0 degrees, and that 
ison the equator. If he were at the North Pole or the South, 
the sun would be on the horizon, and his sextant would show 
an angle of 0 degrees. Subtracting this from ninety he 
would find his latitude to be ninety degrees, north or south 
of the equator, as the case might be. At any position be- 
tween the equator and the poles the problem would be worked 
in the same manner. 

But, except for two days in the year—but for two moments 
I might almost say—the sun is never directly over the equa- 
tor, and declination is its distance at any given time north 
or south of the equator, measured in degrees, minutes, and 
seconds. This cannot be learned by any observations from 
aship at sea. It is comparatively simple, however, to learn 
it by careful studies made at well-equipped observatories, 
and the results of these studies are now furnished mariners 


220 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


in carefully compiled form, so that they have merely to turn 
to their book in order to learn what the sun’s declination 
is at any given time. 

It was this work that Prince Henry began, and modern 
navigation may, perhaps, be said to have begun with his 
studies. 

But all the tables of declination are of no use without an 
instrument with which to measure accurately the angle 
between the sun and the horizon, and such an instrument 
was slow in coming. ‘The first apparatus used was called 
a “cross staff.” It was made of two rods, one about thirty- 
six inches and the other about twenty-six inches long. The 
shorter staff was arranged so that its centre slid along the 
other while it remained rigidly at right angles to the longer 
staff. To work out one’s latitude with this instrument the 
observer waited until noon was almost upon him. He then 
took his cross staff and, placing one end of the longer crossbar 
to his eye and holding the instrument so that the shorter 
bar stood in a vertical plane, moved the shorter bar back and 
forth until he could sight over the upper end at the sun and, 
at the same time, beneath the lower end at the horizon. 
As the sun continued to mount to its highest point he pulled 
the cross staff slowly toward him, measuring a greater and a 
greater angle. When the sun had reached its highest point 
and the angle between it and the horizon began to lessen, 
his “sight”? was completed, and carefully holding the cross- 
bar where it marked the greatest angle he laid it on a table 
on which a circle was inscribed. The end that had been 
at his eye he placed at the centre of the circle, and the seg- 
ment marked by the lines from the centre past the two ends 
of the crossbar showed the number of degrees in the angle 
he had measured between the horizon and the sun. 

But any one who has attempted to sight a gun accurately 
while standing on an irregularly moving platform will have 


THE SCIENCE OF NAVIGATION 221 


some idea of the difficulty these old sailors had in sighting 
accurately at the horizon and the sun at identically the same 
time from the deck of a bobbing ship. The glare of the sun, 
the motion of the ship, and the inaccuracy of the instrument 
itself could not be expected to give more than approximate 





USING AN ASTROLABE 


This instrument was meant to improve on the cross staff. One man held it, 
when it was supposed to hang with the horizon line horizontal. Another man 
sighted at the sun or the stars, and a third read and recorded the angle. Needless 
to say the instrument was very inaccurate. 


results, especially as the several corrections on the angle 
now known to be necessary (the refraction of the sun’s rays 
as they enter our atmosphere is one) were either not recog- 
nized or were inaccurately known. 

Later the ‘“astrolabe,” an instrument almost equally 
crude, was introduced. It was made of a heavy tin or bronze 
plate, circular in shape, and pivoted to its centre was a bar 
running across it from side to side. It was marked in de- 


222 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


grees and fractions, and while one man held it, as steadily. 
as he could, a second sighted along the pivoted crossbar and 
a third read the angles. Vasco da Gama used one of these 
in 1497 on his voyage around the Cape of Good Hope, but 
it did not turn out to be much of an improvement on the 
cross staff. 

But up to this time, and even later, the science of naviga- 
tion consisted almost solely of the approximate determination 
of latitude and mere guesses, based on the estimated speed 
and direction of the ship through the water, for longitude. 
So hopeless did it seem at that time for mariners scientifically 
to determine their longitude that an old writer on the subject 
is quoted by the Encyclopedia Britannica as saying, “Now 
there be some that are very inquisitive to have a way to get 
the longitude, but that is too tedious for seamen, since it 
requireth the deep knowledge of astronomy, wherefore I 
would not have any man think that the longitude is to be 
found at sea by any instrument; so let no seamen trouble 
themselves with any such rule, but (according to their 
accustomed manner) let them keep a perfect account and 
reckoning of the way of their ship.” 

These early sailors learned, of course, that their latitude 
could be worked out by observing the North Star, and they 
used that method, crudely, of course, but similarly to the 
way it is used to-day. For this a contrivance called a 
“nocturnal”? was adopted. With this they could determine 
what position the North Star was in, in reference to the true 
pole, for, of course, the North Star does not exactly mark 
the pole, but revolves about it in a small circle. 

While the voyage of Columbus did not actually begin the 
era of discovery, it did greatly increase interest in explora- 
tion, and as most of this exploration necessitated long ocean 
voyages the interest in navigation grew apace. One of the 
earliest writers on navigation was aman named John Werner. 


THE SCIENCE OF NAVIGATION 223 


In 1514 he explained the use of the cross staff, which for 
many years had been used on shore but had been first utilized 
at sea not very many years before Werner wrote. A little 
later one R. Gemma Frisius wrote a book which contained 
a great deal of information useful to men of the sea. In it 
he described the sphere with its parallels of latitude and its 
meridians of longitude much as we use them to-day. Up 
to this time, however, no agreement had been made upon 
what meridian to base the measurement of longitude. Now- 
adays the meridian of Greenwich is used. Frisius, however, 
suggested the meridian of the Azores. Any meridian, of 
course, would do, provided that the necessary data be based 
upon it, but the data available in the early 16th Century were 
slight indeed. 

The necessity for drawing curved lines on flat charts to 
represent the courses of their ships now began to be under- 
stood, for ships do not sail on a flat surface but instead sail 
on the ever-curving surface of the sea. To the person ac- 
customed, as most of us are, to looking at maps printed 
on flat pages, this truth becomes evident when he draws a 
straight line on a flat map, and then transfers the line to a 
geographical globe, making it pass through the same points. 

Mariners were troubled, too, by the difficulty of accurately 
and easily drawing parallel lines on their charts, but this 
was overcome in 1584 when “parallel rulers’ were first 
used by one Mordente. “Parallel rulers,” which are nothing 
more than two rulers hinged together so that whether they 
touch each other or are separated they remain parallel, are 
a part of every navigator’s equipment to-day. 

Tables of the tides began to appear in the latter part of the 
16th Century, but they were woefully inaccurate, and other 
information, while increasing, still was liable to be seriously 
in error. 

Even points ashore, where observations could be worked 


224 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


out under the best possible conditions, were thought to be 
from a few minutes to several degrees from what we now 
know are their positions, and when one realizes that an 
error of one minute of latitude means an error of one mile, 
it will be seen that an error of fifteen or twenty minutes 
might be enough to put a ship in grave danger while her 
captain thought her safe, and that a position in which there 
is an error of several degrees is little more than worthless, 
for each degree of latitude represents 60 miles, and three or 
four degrees mean one hundred and eighty or two hundred 
and forty miles. When it is realized, furthermore, that such 
errors as these were made ashore, where the observations 
were much more accurate than they could be at sea, one 
understands why seamen trusted their navigation but little, 
for they were often faced, no doubt, with errors of three 
or four hundred miles. And, if anything, their methods 
of determining latitude were less inaccurate than those used 
in determining longitude. ‘Truly, navigation in those days 
left much to be desired. 

Other instruments were invented from time to time in the 
struggle to master navigation. The “astronomical ring” 
was one, but it was little less crude than the astrolabe. 

Now up to the 16th Century navigators were without the 
one essential instrument necessary to the accurate determina- 
tion of longitude. That instrument was an accurate time- 
piece that could be carried to sea. It is not necessary to 
have a timepiece in order to learnone’s latitude, but longitude 
is a more difficult problem, and time is an element in it. 
But the watches of the 16th Century were too inaccurate 
to be of much service, and, as a matter of fact, it was not 
until 1607 that it was realized that a day is not necessarily 
made up of twenty-four hours. If one stays in one place it 
is true that there are twenty-four complete hours from noon 
to noon, and clocks were designed to register the time at 


THE SCIENCE OF NAVIGATION 225 


bo 


























1) 
j= ——T qi 
/ suiinheily 7 Yih 
SS | Se | 
=f a A SHIP’S LOG 
‘ i |i} = The mechanism at the top 
ee tag — | (= is fastened on the ship’s rail, 
- —=S [ =~ and a line with the rotator 
De rae od I ye shown below at its end is al- 
a “at Ps lowed to trail in the ya! 
astern. The passage of t 
A SEXTANT IN USE rotator through the water 


Sertants are used to measure the elevation of causes it to turn, the line is 
celestial bodies—the sun, moon, or stars—in work- twisted, and the log is made 
ing problems in latitude and longitude. to register the miles travelled. 


one place. But suppose, as the sun rises to-morrow morning, 
you board a very fast airplane and fly it at its fastest speed 
toward the west. Suppose this airplane flies at the rate of 
1,000 miles an hour. In twenty-four hours you have flown 
around the world, and wherever you have been during that 
time the sun has been just rising behind you. It has been 
early morning for you all the time. Suppose, on the other 
hand, you had flown east at the same rate of speed. If you 
started at six o’clock in the morning, in three hours the sun 
would be overhead—that is, it would be noon for you. In 
three more it would be evening. In six more it would be 
morning again, for you would be halfway around the world. 
Six hours later evening would come fo you, and in another 
six hours you would be at your starting point and it would be 


226 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


morning once more—the second morning you had seen after 
you started, but only the first morning after for the people 
you had parted from twenty-four hours before. 

Ships, of course, do not travel at 1,000 miles an hour, 
But they do travel many miles, perhaps several hundred, in 
twenty-four hours. Therefore, if you start at Guayaquil, 
Ecuador (I use that, for it is very nearly on the equator), 
and sail west for twenty-four hours, making 240 miles, your 
watch will tell you that it is exactly the same time of day 
that it was when you left Guayaquil. But that is not true. 
It us the same time of day al Guayaquil, but you are four 
degrees west of Guayaquil, and the sun must still travel 
past four degrees of longitude before the time at the spot 
you have reached will be what your watch suggests. It 
will take the sun sixteen minutes to cover that distance, and 
therefore your watch is sixteen minutes fast. 

Great strides were made during the 16th and 17th centuries 
and many books were published. Probably the first book 
entirely about navigation ever published was one entitled 
‘Arte de navigar,” by Pedro de Medina. ‘This appeared in 
Spain in 1545. The fact, however, that the subject was not 
really understood is proved by the acceptance at an even 
later date of the theory that the earth did not move and that 
the sun revolved about it. 

Charts became greatly improved during the latter part 
of the 16th Century, owing to the studies of Mercator, after 
whom the ‘‘ Mercator projection” is named. The Mercator 
projection is used in the type of map that shows the entire 
surface of the earth as if it were the unrolled surface of a 
cylinder, and is the type which is, perhaps, despite its errors, 
in commonest use to-day. 

But despite many improvements it was not until the 18th 
Century that modern navigation really began. Then, 
suddenly, both the sextant and the chronometer were in- 


THE SCIENCE OF NAVIGATION 227 


vented in rapid succession—the one in 1731 and the other in 
1735. ‘The sextant is the instrument (now greatly perfected) 
that is used to measure accurately the angles between the 
horizon and the celestial bodies being observed, and the 
chronometer is the accurate timepiece (now also greatly 
perfected) used on practically all sea-going ships to keep a 
record of the time of the prime meridian of longitude—that is, 
the meridian numbered zero. Usually, nowadays, that 
meridian, as I have said, is the meridian of Greenwich, 
England, for it is at Greenwich that a British observatory 
is located, and at this observatory the vital data for seamen 
are compiled. 

With the introduction of the sextant and the chronometer 
the determination of longitude became simple. And latitude, 
too, because of the sextant, could more accurately be de- 
termined. 

It is not my purpose to go into detail in explaining the 
finding of one’s longitude, but I shall attempt to explain, 
simply, the theory. 

The sun, during a day of twenty-four hours, covers the 
360 degrees of the circumference of the earth. That is, 
during every hour it passes 15 degrees. If you have a clock 
that tells you that it is 9 o’clock in the morning at Greenwich 
and you know that, according to the sun, it is 8 o’clock in the 
morning where you are, you know that because of that differ- 
ence of one hour there is a difference of 15 degrees of longi- 
tude, and that you are 15 degrees west of the meridian of 
Greenwich. If you were 15 degrees east, your time would be 
10 o'clock. 

Now if you have some accurate way of telling what time 
it is by the sun where you are, and you have a chronometer 
telling you the time at Greenwich, all you have to do is to 
subtract the earlier time from the later and work out how 
many degrees, minutes, and seconds of longitude are rep- 


228 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


resented by the hours, minutes, and seconds of the difference. 
If it is later at Greenwich than where you are, you are west 
of Greenwich; if earlier, you are east. 

On the morning of March 7, 1916, I took a sight of the sun 
when the chronometer showed it was 39 minutes and 1 second 
past 1. My sextant showed me, after I had made some 
corrections which I shall not attempt to explain, that the 
altitude of the sun was 24° 58’. From this, and other data 
that it is necessary to have, I worked out our time when I 
took the sight. The answer to my problem showed me that 
the time was 13 minutes and 4 seconds past 8 o'clock. 
Subtracting this time from the time shown by the chro- 
nometer [ got 5 hours, 25 minutes, and 57 seconds. Because 
a difference of one hour of time represents a difference of 15 
degrees of longitude, a difference of 5 hours, 25 minutes, and 
57 seconds in time represents a difference of 81 degrees, 
29 minutes, and 15 seconds in longitude. The Greenwich 
time was later than ours; therefore, our longitude was 81° 
29’ 15”’ west of Greenwich. 

I have purposely refrained from explaining the working 
of the problem, for that can only be done with such a refer- 
ence book as Bowditch at hand, in order that the compiled 
logarithms may be looked up. Furthermore, the explanation 
is long, technical, and, to the beginner, tedious, and is beside 
the purpose of this book. I have given the incomplete 
explanation only to show that to find longitude one must 
find one’s “local mean time,’’ and must have a timepiece 
showing the ““mean time”’ at Greenwich. 

In the foregoing explanation I have left out of considera- 
tion several factors vital to accuracy in navigation. For 
instance, I have not mentioned the fact that the sun is not 
so accurate in its movements as an accurate chronometer. 
Sometimes it is a few minutes ahead and sometimes it is a 
little behind time. From this, two expressions for time have 


THE SCIENCE OF NAVIGATION 229 


come into use: “apparent time” and ‘“‘mean time.” ‘“Ap- 
parent time” is the time that is shown by the sun; “mean 
time” is the time shown by the clock. Because there is 
this difference there must be a correction made for it, and 
this correction is to be found in the Nautical Almanac, which 
is a valuable part of the navigator’s equipment. 

Again, the navigator takes the angle of the sun from the 
bridge or some other elevated part of his ship. The angle 
he gets from such a height is slightly different from the one 
he would get if he were at the water level. Therefore he 
must make a correction for the difference. This he finds 
by knowing his elevation above the water and looking up 
the correction. 

There are other corrections still, applying to the sextant 
angle, to the sun itself, and to time. All of these are neces- 


aa EY eer 
ae ee 
Pi _ ZL" Ss 
a eee a Be Gs bee Yee 
ater B Z woe 
ie go %& 2 


yt 
AA 


‘i rl 
| N 


\ 





V 





md Nai 
\WAN\\\e 
A 
i) 


Wy 
\ 
{ 


fou 


USING A PELORUS 


This apparatus consists of a movable plate marked with compass bear- 
ings, set in a stand. The observer sets the plate to correspond to the standard 
compass, and then sights across it in determining the compass bearings of 
points ashore from which he wishes to learn his exact position. 


230 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS" 


sary if one wishes to be accurate, and a navigator should 
always be as accurate as his science permits. 

But often it is impossible to learn the angle between the 
horizon and any of the celestial bodies, for clouds and fog 
sometimes shut off the sky and the horizon. Sometimes 
one is clear while the other is obscured; sometimes both are 
hidden. But still it is necessary to know the position of the 
ship. As a matter of fact, the heavier the clouds or the 
thicker the fog the more desirable it is to know one’s position 
accurately. Until recently, however, seamen have had to 
depend only upon dead reckoning which often is anything 
but accurate. But now the radio direction finder and the 
method of learning one’s position by asking radio stations 
ashore to supply it by plotting the directions from which one’s 
radio message reaches two or more of them are coming into 
more and more common use. 

Dead reckoning however, is still highly important, and is 
used by every careful navigator. It requires considerable 
experience for a navigator accurately to place his ship by 
dead reckoning alone. As a matter of fact, if the voyage 
is long and the sky has been obscured, the navigator expects 
to find himself somewhat wrong in his estimation of his 
position and is correspondingly careful. He has had to 
depend upon his log, which, as I explained in the last chap- 
ter, is a kind of nautical speedometer. As a check against 
this he often keeps a record of the revolutions of his propeller, 
for he knows, from experience, how far he will sail in an hour 
with his propeller running at any given speed. ‘This is 
advisable because seaweed may foul the rotator of his log, 
or driftwood tear it away or bend it. 

In addition to the distance he has sailed he must know 
accurately the direction he has sailed, and if he has changed 
his direction he must know when and how much. Further- 
more, he must study his charts carefully in order to learn 


THE SCIENCE OF NAVIGATION 231 


whether or not he is sailing in a part of the ocean in which 
there are currents, and if so he must figure out very carefully 
what effect the current has on his ship. 

Suppose a ship was sailing by dead reckoning across the 
Gulf Stream directly east of Cape Hatteras. The Stream, 
let us say, is 100 miles wide, and he is ten hours in crossing it. 
The current flows at the rate of three miles an hour. There- 
fore, if he has headed straight across, the current has carried 
him thirty miles to the northeast, and unless he knows how 
wide the stream is, which direction and how fast it flows, 
and how long he has been in it, he cannot possibly know just 
where heis. It is as if you tried to cross a river in a rowboat 
and pointed its bow at right angles to the shore all the way. 
The current would certainly carry you downstream, so that 
you would not land on the opposite side ay across from 
where you started. 

When it is necessary, then, for seamen to sail their ships 
entirely: by “dead reckoning”’ they are always anxious to 
check up their positions by any outside aids that are availa- 
ble. It was for this reason that our captain, on the imagi- 
nary voyage we took from Philadelphia to Havana in the last 
chapter, sailed so close to Diamond Shoal Lightship instead 
of crossing the Gulf Stream and heading out to sea. 

I shall add but one more thing before I end this brief and 
incomplete explanation of navigation and its related sub- 
jects. Navigation and dead reckoning we have touched 
upon. Piloting still remains untouched. 

This branch of navigation, if branch it really is, shows the 
navigator the position of his ship by reference to objects 
ashore. Let us suppose that a ship has crossed the ocean 
and is approaching a harbour entrance. While at sea an 
error of half a mile or so meant little, but as he approaches 
shore he wants to know exactly where he is. 

On each side of the harbour entrance let us suppose that 


232 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


there is a lighthouse. The navigator gets out his large-scale 
chart of the vicinity and lays it on his chart table. This 
chart shows the harbour entrance and shows the positions 
of the lighthouses. Then he determines the direction of 
these two lighthouses according to his compass. Let us 
suppose one lies exactly northwest and the other exactly 
southwest. On the chart, then, he draws two lines, one 
through the point marking each of the lighthouses. From 
the lighthouse to the northwest he draws a line extending 
southeast (the opposite direction) out to sea. From the 
lighthouse to the southwest he draws a line to the northeast. 
These two lines cross, and he knows that his ship was ex- 
actly at the intersection when he took his bearings. As this 
can be done in a minute or two the position is very accurate, 
unless his ship is sailing very rapidly, which it probably 
would not be. This is known as the “cross bearing’ method 
of learning one’s position, and is one of the simplest problems 
in piloting. 

Suppose, however, that a ship is sailing along the shore, 
and but one prominent object can be seen on the land. 
The navigator watches until the object (a lighthouse, per- 
haps) is “four points off his bow’’—that is, until the angle 
between his course and the direction of the object is 45 
degrees. From that moment the log is watched carefully, 
until the object is directly at right angles to the ship’s 
course. The distance sailed during that time is the same as 
the distance from the ship to the object ashore at the time 
the second bearing is secured, and if a compass bearing is 
taken when the ninety-degree bearing has been taken, a line 
drawn on the chart from the position of the object ashore can 
be marked with the distance in miles, and the navigator 
will know exactly the position of his ship at that moment. 
This is known as “bow and beam bearings.” There are 
other similar methods of obtaining the desired result. 


THE SCIENCE OF NAVIGATION 233 


In foggy weather when ships are “on soundings ’’—that is, 
where the water is shallow enough to permit of the easy use 
of a line with a weight attached for measuring its depth— 
careful navigators invariably use the “lead line” constantly. 

This tells them not only how deep the water is, but by 





SOUNDING BY MACHINE 


A glass tube with the upper end closed and the lower end open is lowered in a 
special case to the sea bottom, and then brought to the surface. As the tube de- 
scends, the water compresses the air in the tube, and gradually creeps up inside. 
The inside of the tube being of ground glass the water leaves a mark showing 
how far it has entered the tube. By laying the tube on a special scale the depth 
to which the glass was carried can be gauged. There are other methods not 
greatly dissimilar from this. 


putting tallow or soap on the bottom of the lead weight they 
bring up sand or mud or shells from the bottom. With this 
and the depth, a line is drawn on tracing paper on the same 
scale as the chart. Along this line these soundings and the 
kind of mud or sand the lead brings up are marked, at in- 
tervals corresponding to the distance the ship has sailed 
between soundings. The chart is printed with the depth of 
the water in fathoms and with the kind of bottom that will 
be found. After the navigator has compiled his data for a 


234 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


few miles the tracing paper with the line on it can be moved | 
about over the chart, and if care has been taken in sounding 
and watching the speed and direction of the ship, the naviga- 
tor will find the place on the chart where his series of sound- 
ings will match the printed soundings. Then he will know 
very accurately where he is, even if it be a fog-enshrouded 
night. 

Many, many important aspects of these three vital sub- 
jects have been completely passed over in this short chapter. 
If, however, I have been able to explain a little of the sub- 
jects, and if, particularly, I have quickened the interest of 
any of my readers in them, my purpose has been served. 
Going to sea is not so difficult as many people ashore are 
prone to think. But becoming a thorough seaman and a 
thorough navigator is not so simple, perhaps, as to become 
adept at much of the work that occupies men ashore. 


CHAPTER XI 
LIGHTHOUSES, LIGHTSHIPS, AND BUOYS 


UST as the origin of ships is lost in the darkness of 
shrouded time, so is the origin of lighthouses lost. 
Perhaps to guide returning fishermen who all day and into 
the night had spread their nets or cast their spears for food, 
the women of some savage tribe of long ago built bonfires 
on the beach. Still that is a custom among simple folk 
who live hard by the sea and secure their livelihood from it. 
From this the Egyptians of early times probably adopted 
their idea of lights, that were burned every night at given 
spots near the shore, in order that ships might find their way 
by them. Such fires were tended in those early days by 
priests, and a priestly duty it was—and still remains, al- 
though simple, quiet people now tend the lights and consider 
it only a work to be done—but it is a work of infinite value 
to the world of ships in which most of the reward lies in the 
knowledge of a task well done. 

A Greek poet, writing about 660 B. C., mentions a light- 
house at Sigeum, a town near the site of ancient Troy, and 
this was one of the very earliest lighthouses regularly main- 
tained. But in the years that followed this they probably 
became more and more numerous, and as their importance 
was recognized they became more and more similar in ex- 
ternal appearance to those we know to-day. That this 
is probably true seems to be borne out by the erection at 
Alexandria, Egypt, about 275 B. C., of the famous Pharos, 
which, we are told, was 600 feet high and similar in shape to 
the minarets so common in Mohammedan lands to-day. 

235 


236 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


That the structure was as high as it is said to have been seems — 
doubtful, but that it was of extraordinary height is proved 
by its inclusion among the seven wonders of the ancient 
world. So impressive a lighthouse could hardly have been 
the first of its kind, although, no doubt, it far surpassed all 
others. 

At the top of this great tower a fire was kept burning, and 
for nearly sixteen centuries its great shaft stood the test of 
time, before it collapsed in an earthquake. Centuries be- 
fore its end, however, the Mohammedan conquerors had 
come to be the rulers of Egypt, and near the top of this great 
tower a small praying chamber was placed. Perhaps from 
its great height the muezzin called the faithful to their pray- 
ers, and certainly its graceful lines left a deep impression — 
on the Mohammedans, for from it came the idea that resulted 
in the erection of the numerous minarets that mark almost 
every Mohammedan city of the earth. 

And ere the convulsion of Nature toppled this striking 
edifice to the earth the idea of lighthouses had greatly 
widened, and widely separated lands had built lighthouses 
of their own to guide the sailor as he sailed the sea. 

Rome built many along the coasts her ships were forced 
to visit, one at Dover and one at Boulogne being, probably, 
the earliest on the shores of England and of France. Both 
of these are gone, leaving only traces of their existence, but 
the ruins of the ancient tower at Ostia, at the mouth of the 
Tiber, still remain to remind us of great galleys that were 
guided by its fire in the nights of the first century after 
Christ. At Corunna, Spain, there still stands an ancient 
Phoenician or Roman tower, known as the Pillar of Hercules, 
and from its top, in ages now long dead, a flaring beacon 
marked the spot for sailors far at sea. 

But all of these earlier lighthouses were built on dry land, 
sheltered by the shore from the crash of waves. It was the 


LIGHTHOUSES, LIGHTSHIPS, AND BUOYS 237 


SLE ML 
Z 


niall 
— Fie] ~ ee 
= a 


ae ~ = 
Mh - 
Hitt va 


) 





4 
‘6 a aa 
ATTA YZ ) 
i ej 
aatnws oe. 
ony ‘tes 4 Z ' Z > Uf Gy I~ 
3, i £2 yp Op) 
% —— BZ = iF Se 
i gy a 
ahs Se ee % = Pa cegt Za , 
——— = ane u , 
cE peimaetRt tah =a“ uae 
a ———— vailh 









1. eee 






\j fesse eae ezeenase 


a \ 


\\ 
BAUS \\ 
aay WS wht \\ \ 
4 ‘i VAS 
Be ts { WN 
iy Yeh 
THE PHAROS AT ALEXANDRIA 


One of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and one of the first great 
lighthouses. 


= 





city of Bordeaux, on the Gironde River in France, that first 
built a lighthouse on a wave-swept rock to warn ships from 
its treacheries. 

The Gironde River flows into the stormy Bay of Biscay, 
its wide mouth often filled with foaming waves driving in from 
sea, which crash upon a rocky reef that lies in the very centre 
of the estuary. So great a toll of passing ships was taken 
by these rocks that the thriving city of Bordeaux was like 
to lose its water-borne commerce, and to keep the trade 
that meant so much to the city the citizens agreed to mark 
the spot with a light. A simple tower was erected on this 
spot about the year 805. For years it served, until Edward 


238 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


the Black Prince, temporarily in control of the vicinity, 
erected a slightly greater tower. For a time this, too, was | 
kept, but finally, an aged keeper having died, the fire was no — 
longer lit. For many years the rocks remained unlighted, 
and then, in 1584, during the reign of Henry II of France, a 
new lighthouse was begun. For twenty-five years the work 
of construction was under way, and when it was completed 
it was the most magnificent lighthouse of all time. Nor 
has another been built since to equal it in magnificence. 
About its base a great stone breakwater was built, sur- 
mounted by a balustrade. The lowest floor of the structure 
contains a beautiful hall and an apartment originally in- 
tended for the king. Above is a chapel, beautifully designed 
and decorated, and above this stands the tower which con- 
tains the light. This, originally, placed the light about 
one hundred feet above the rocks. Later the tower was 
increased in height to 207 feet and now it is equipped with 
the most modern apparatus, visible in clear weather for 
twenty-seven miles, to take the place of the blazing log 
fire that for so long did its best to guide the mariners in from 
sea. 

Until the 18th Century the fires of these beacons burned 
wood, and then coal came gradually into use. The objec- 
tions to such fires are obvious. ‘They had no definite range, 
for fires died down or burnt furiously, and when a strong 
wind drove in from sea the fire was often all but hidden from 
sight of ships as it curled around in the lee of the tower. 

But America had been settled and had such lighthouses 
on its own coast ere other methods superseded. this. 

The first lighthouse in the United States was the one on 
Little Brewster Island on the south of the main entrance 
to Boston Harbour. It was built in 1716, although the light- 
house now occupying that site was erected in 1859. During 
the Revolutionary War the structure was destroyed and 


LIGHTHOUSES, LIGHTSHIPS, AND BUOYS 239 


rebuilt three times. The third structure was a stone tower 
sixty-eight feet high, and four oil lamps were used to illumi- 
nate it. 

Wood and coal fires continued to be used, here and there, 
until the 19th Century was well begun. The last one of 
these in England to give way to more improved methods 
was the Flat Holme Light, in the Bristol Channel, where 
coal was burned until 1822. 

During the 19th Century, however, great improvements 
were made in lights, and equal improvements were made in 
the design and construction of lighthouses. The story of 
the development of lighthouses is one of dramatic intensity, 
filled with accounts of heroism, of ingenuity and perseverance. 
And not only in the building of lighthouses has heroism been 











a) 
a WY 
nit } ae 
LE aps Ss Ww 
———— eS 
; 6 6 ih or 
; Za S 


\ 


THE TILLAMOOK ROCK LIGHT STATION 


This great rock, which lies about a mile off the coast of Oregon, was formerly 
a spot of terrible danger to ships. Great difficulties had to be overcome in order 
lo erect this lighthouse, but now its 160,000-candle-power light is visible, in 
clear weather, for eighteen miles. 


240 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


shown. The courage of the quiet men who man them— 
and women, too, for there are many to whom lighthouses 
are entrusted—in itself is the subject for a book. Courage 
and unselfish devotion to duty are the fundamentals upon 
which keepers of lights base their helpful lives. Regardless 
of comfort, regardless of danger, regardless of life itself, the 
light must burn. No other duty or desire compares with that 
determination. And so in calm or gale, in summer fog or 
storm-torn winter night, the men who sail the sea have come 
to depend with simple and abiding faith upon the lights, 
the foghorns, and the courage of the lighthousemen. Whether 
the Atlantic pounds with mountainous seas the slender shaft 
on Bishop’s Rock, or the Pacific piles its crashing surges high 
at Tillamook; whether the hot winds of Arabia blister the 
paint on the web of steel that holds the Red Sea light of 
Sanganeb Reef, or ice encrusts the giant light that guards 
Cape Race, the light must burn, and sailors out at sea sail 
past almost as confident of these lights as of the stars. 

To one who has not seen the vast strength of the angry 
sea my words will mean but little, but any one who has 
seen needs no description and will not forget. Imagine a 
slender tower, built amid the smother of foam on a wave- 
swept rock. Imagine the supreme impudence of man who 
boldly sets himself the task of building there a cylinder of 
stone surmounted by a cage of glass. Nor does his impu- 
dence end there. Although it may be that for weeks at a 
time no boat may come near the spume and flying spray 
about the rocks above which stands the tower, yet in the 
tower are men. They calmly go about the tasks assigned 
to them. They polish the powerful lenses about the light. 
Each night they light the lamp. When fog obscures the 
spot they set their foghorn going. These are their duties. 

And when storm threatens, do they leave? Not so, for 
then above all times is their duty clear. 


LIGHTHOUSES, LIGHTSHIPS, AND BUOYS 241 


Overhead fly the scurrying clouds before the storm. Below, 
the sea turns gray. A whitecap dots the surface of the water, 
and a sudden puff of wind leaves a ruffle of little waves as it 
passes. The clouds grow darker and the lightning flashes. 
The thunder snaps and roars and then comes the wind. Its 
yoice is low at first as it whisks away the wave crests and 


Sa 
— Ke 
eee a = 
a? Su, i a == 
¥ = = Sse = 
eS SE ee Fa 
ae Fetes 
aes Fe ae a 
= 4 ae = a a eo Oe — 
oo Gi eee, = @3e=S 2 ae 
= a SS. EE re GE eee = 
: == 






CAPE RACE LIGHTHOUSE 


A 1,100,000-candle-power light now marks the great Newfoundland 
headland of Cape Race. Near this cape lies the shortest sea route from the 
English Channel to Boston and New York, and ships entering the St. 
Lawrence River also must pass near it. 


tears them into spray. The tattered water slaps against 
the brown rock of the tower. The wind increases, blowing 
up the waves. They pound with growing strength against 
the foaming reef, and leap up higher toward the glass cage 
that marks the tall tower’s crest. 

_ The lightning flashes more, the thunder roars again. 
The wind goes wild and shrieks like mad, tearing water from 
the sea and throwing it high over the summit of the tower. 


242 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


The great waves boom as they pile up on the rocks. They 
crash against the tower which shudders with the blows. 
Surge after surge pounds savagely on the great rocks of the 
reef, and finally a mighty wave that seems to be a giant 
effort of the madly tortured sea lifts a raging crest high up, 
and drops it in the roaring surf. A great rock splits beneath 
the blow, the wave runs up the tall thin shaft and dashes 
high above its top, and then drops swiftly down, while there, 
unharmed amid the vastness and the terror of the storm 
still stands the tower that puny man has built to warn 
ships from the dangers that surround it. 

The story of lighthouses is one to hold the interest of any 
one, and many books have been written telling it. “ Light- 
houses and Lightships,” by F. A. Talbot, is one of these, 
and from its pages one may take a new impression of the 
men who spend their lives in making the sea less dangerous 
for those who travel on it. 

My task is different. I have space only to devote to why 
lighthouses exist and how they help sailors. And with 
lighthouses I shall include lightships—which, of course, 
are merely lighthouses that float—and buoys, which are 
used for many things. 

Originally it is likely that lights were built ashore in 
order that sailors overtaken by night while on the sea could 
be directed to a landing place. Compasses, of course, were 
unknown, and while it is possible to sail a course by the stars, 
it is quite another matter to find a landing place by such 
means. Consequently, lights were built to mark shelving 
beaches or the entrances to harbours where ships could he 
landed. 

But the light erected in 805 by Bordeaux was for the 
opposite purpose. It marked a place to keep well clear of, 
and lighthouses do that to-day almost exclusively. 

- Ifa reef lies near a course followed by ships a light must 


LIGHTHOUSES, LIGHTSHIPS, AND BUOYS 243 








s2=28ur 


Moy, 


i, 


aire 


| on 4, 


feat 5 ln 















— 





MINOT’S LEDGE LIGHT 
Which marks, near the entrance to Boston Harbour, a rocky reef seldom seen 


above the surface of the water. From this spot, the famous old skeleton iron 
lighthouse that formerly marked the reef was swept by a gale in 1851. 

guard it. If asand bank is hidden from the sight of ships 
that might ground on it a light must be there as a warning. 
{f an island constitutes a menace because swift currents flow 
dast its shores a light must tell the sailor where the danger 
ies. Nor are lighthouses useful only at night. In daylight 
they form conspicuous marks from which the navigator may 
earn his exact position. In fog their huge foghorns wail 
ike lost souls, sending warnings far into the engulfing mist in 
order that sailors may hear and know that land is near. 


244 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


Then, too, each light is individual. One flashes regularly, 
one irregularly, one red and white, one red alone. Other 
lights are steady beams, but each can be recognized, and so 
they are like friendly faces, recognizable, every one. 

Perhaps the coast of France is the best lighted in the world. 
Certainly it would be difficult to imagine one with a more 
perfect system. I have sailed the coast of Brittany at 
night, fearful of the currents and the storms that often blow 
on the stormy Bay of Biscay. But always, to minimize 
the dangers of the rocky coast and hidden reefs, the light- 
houses blinked, and the task is simple to determine one’s 
position any time, except in fogs. For the French have 
placed their lighthouses so that as a ship sails along the coast 
there are always at least two lights in sight at once. From 
these, cross bearings can be taken at almost any moment, 
and the careful navigator, in clear weather, need never feel 
uneasy as to his position. Ushant Island, that rocky islet 
just off the coast of Finisterre, was long a graveyard of ships 
—and still, from time to time, some ship is caught on its 
rocks—but now bold lights stand high above the smother of 
foam and the roar of breakers, marking the spot in order 
that ships may carefully give it a wide berth. 

Formerly every lighthouse had to have attendants, as the 
most important still have, but modern improvements are 
making unattended lights more and more common. One 
finds them everywhere. The rocky coast of Sweden, the 
firths of Scotland, the mountains of the Strait of Magellan, 
the gorgeous coast of Indo-China all have many of these new 
beacons. 

They flash accurately at regular intervals. They light their 
lights at dusk and turn them out at dawn. Some roar 
through the fog with their great warning voices, and all of 
this is automatic or semi-automatic. So far as the lights 
themselves are concerned they require no attention for 


LIGHTHOUSES, LIGHTSHIPS, AND BUOYS 245 


months at a time. The sun turns them off as it rises in the 
morning, and as it sets, the delicate apparatus that its light 
expands contracts once more and the light is turned on. 
From time to time a tender visits each of these. The appara- 
tus is overhauled, the supply of fuel renewed, and again for 
months the light performs its task. 

Nor are all lights placed in lighthouses. Many spots 
require other means, and lightships have been designed and 
built to perform the duties of lighthouses where lighthouses 
cannot be built. 

To transatlantic travellers perhaps the most familiar of 
these is the Ambrose Channel Lightship, that rolls and 
pitches at its anchor outside the entrance to New York 








— SY 

we ie ore e) 
2Bazah OG Ven 
Za 


f 


\ 





BISHOP ROCK LIGHTHOUSE 


On a cluster of rocks off the Scilly Islands near the entrance to the 
English Channel where converge the most important of all the world’s 
shipping lanes. 


246 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


Harbour. But the most famous lightship on the American 
coast is the one that marks Diamond Shoal, that infamous 
spot just off Cape Hatteras. Several times the Government 
has attempted to build a lighthouse on this shoal, but the 
attempts have invariably been frustrated by the sea. A 
lighthouse does mark the Cape, but Diamond Shoal runs 
out beneath the stormy water for about nine miles from the 
Cape, and it is this dangerous sand bank that the lightship 
guards. Four and a half miles out from the bank the light- 
ship is anchored in a stretch of water that has hardly a peer 
on earth for the frequency and suddenness of storms. Here 
this little ship jerks at her anchor, pounded by great seas, 
tugged at by swift currents, swept by fierce winds. She 
rolls and pitches, shipping seas over this side and then that, 
and jerking—always jerking at her cable. There is no easy 
smoothness to her roll as there is with a free ship at sea. 
There is no exhilaration to her pitch as she rises over the seas 
and plunges to the troughs, for always the jerk of the cable 
interferes, and from one month’s end to the next the little 
crew endures the discomfort and the hard work, in order 
that ships may be warned away from the treacherous sand 
of Diamond Shoal. 

These sturdy little ships do mark other things than dan- 
gers. In many cases they are the modern counterparts of 
the beach fires of those early peoples which lighted belated 
boats in to shore. ‘To-day, however, those lightships which 
perform this task swing at their anchors outside the entrances 
to harbours, marking the channel through which the ships 
must pass on their way in from sea. 

In this duty they are similar to the lighted buoys which, 
in recent years, have been put to so many uses, the lightships 
being, however, greatly more conspicuous and generally 
marking a spot well outside the entrance to the channel. 

Buoys are of many uses and of many shapes and sizes, 


a 


LIGHTHOUSES, LIGHTSHIPS, AND BUOYS 247 


marking danger spots, submarine cables, sunken wrecks, 
channels, as well as temporary obstructions. Some are 
used for mooring ships in harbours, some carry bells or 
whistles for sounding warnings, some carry lights. At- 
tempts have been made to standardize the shapes and mark- 
ings of buoys in all countries, but many lands still maintain 


= 
— 
SS 






















































































FIRE ISLAND LIGHTSHIP 


This lightship is anchored off Fire Island, near the southern coast of Long 
Island, U. S. A. Lightships sometimes mark shoals, and sometimes mark 
the entrances to harbours. They are always kept anchored in given spots 
and are merely floating lighthouses, although, of course, they are sometimes 
relieved by other lightships so that they may undergo repairs. 


their own designs, and the officers of a ship visiting strange 
waters must acquaint themselves with the particular designs 
there in use. 

Buoys are of scores of different sizes and designs. They 
may be nothing more than tall painted poles of wood an- 
chored to the bottom in shallow water and standing more or 
less vertically. These are called “spar”? buoys, and are 
useful if ice is floating in the waters that they mark, for as 


248 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


the ice floats against them they give way, the ice passes 
over them and they serenely reappear, none the worse. 

On the other hand buoys may be huge structures of steel 
many tons in weight, forty feet from top to bottom, ten feet 
in diameter, and complex in their equipment of lights or 
whistles or bells. Or they may be great barrel-like steel 
floats, or conical ones, or great turnip-shaped floats. Some 
are spherical, some are of stranger shapes. They may be 
red or black or green. Some are striped, with weird decora- 
tions gracing their tops. Some support small triangles or 
spheres, some crosses, some paint-brush-like affairs. But 
each one has its particular uses, and one should hesitate to 
pass a buoy unless the thing it stands for is understood. 

In United States waters, for instance, one needs to know 
that in coming in from sea a ship should pass with the red 
buoys, which are conical in shape and are called “nun” 
buoys, on the starboard, or right side. These buoys are 
further distinguished by being numbered with even numbers. 
At the same time all “can” buoys, which are black and 
cylindrical, with odd numbers painted on them, should be 
kept to the port or left side. Sometimes “spar” buoys re- 
place these, but the buoys to starboard will always be red, 
the buoys to port black, as the ship comes in from sea. 

Buoys painted with red and black horizontal lines mark 
obstructions with channels on both sides. Buoys with 
white and black perpendicular stripes sometimes mark the 
middle of a channel and a ship should pass close to them. 
Buoys marking quarantine are yellow, while buoys marking 
the limits of anchorages are usually white. 

The whistling buoys and lighted buoys are, perhaps, the 
most interesting of the lot. Imagine a huge steel top, with 
a whistle placed at its point, and a large steel tube running 
through it from top to bottom, extending more than the 
height of the top above it. Imagine this top ten or twelve 


LIGHTHOUSES, LIGHTSHIPS, AND BUOYS 249 





AUTOMATIC BUOYS 


The whistle buoy at the left utilizes the motion of the waves to blow a whistle. 
The light buoy in the centre has an automatic light that burns gas stored in the 
body of the buoy. The bell buoy at the right carries a bell, against which four 
clappers are pounded by the action of the waves. 


feet in diameter, and, with the tube, forty feet in height. 
Imagine this, then, floating in the water, point up, and with 
the tube below the surface. The end of the tube below the 
water is open. The end on which the whistle is mounted 
contains two openings. In one of these the whistle is placed. 
The other opening is closed by a valve which permits air to 
enter, but closes when the air tries to escape. This buoy is 
anchored in the water, and as the waves toss it up and down 
they rise and fall in the lower part of the tube. As they rise 
the air inside is compressed and is blown through the whistle 
causing it to sound. As the water in the tube falls, air is 
drawn through the valve, and again the waves force it 
through the whistle. This ponderous but simple “ whistling”’ 
buoy requires no supplies and almost no attention. Peri- 


250 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


odically it is visited by a tender and is temporarily relieved 
of work while it is taken to the repair shop to be examined, — 
repaired, and painted. Aside from that it needs no atten- 
tion, yet constantly it moans as the waves sweep under it, 
and the greater the waves the greater is the volume of its 
sound. 

Bell buoys are equally simple and effective. ‘These buoys 
are surmounted by a framework of steel from which a large 
bell is rigidly suspended. Several “clappers” are hinged 
about it so that, no matter how a wave may move the buoy, 
a clapper strikes the bell. 

The light buoys are more complicated and more diverse. 
There are more than a dozen different sizes and shapes, and 
the fuel is usually compressed oil gas or compressed acetylene 
gas. The buoys themselves—that is, the floats—may be of 
almost any shape. Some are spherical, some cylindrical. 
Some are long and thin, and others short and fat, but each 
one has a framework or a shaft of steel extending from ten 
to twenty feet above it. At the top of this the light is fixed, 
while the body of the buoy holds the gas. These lights flash 
intermittently, the gas, which is under pressure, operating 
a valve while a tiny “pilot light”’ in the burner remains 
always burning in order to ignite the gas when it is turned 
on to cause each flash. Some of these buoys carry a supply 
of fuel great enough to last for three months, and during 
that time they flash their lights every few seconds without 
fail, marking a danger or a channel, and are visible, some- 
times, from distances of several miles. 

Thus the dangers of the sea are marked by lighthouses, 
lightships, and buoys, while harbour entrances and channels 
are marked as well. This has been done in order to save life 
and property and in order to expedite the passages of ships. 
No more do captains have to depend on guess and luck. 
Their accurate sextants and chronometers tell them where 


LIGHTHOUSES, LIGHTSHIPS, AND BUOYS 251 


they are on the trackless sea. Their barometers tell them 
of approaching storms. Their compasses tell them their 
directions. 

And men ashore have built great lights on wave-washed 
rocks and surf-pounded beaches, on mighty headlands and 
shoals of sand. Lightships mark the treacherous spots 
where lighthouses cannot be erected, and mark, as well, the 
entrances to many harbours around the world. And once 
past these the mariner is led into the shelter of the harbour 
between long lines of buoys, each telling him its message, 
each aiding him on his way. He rounds a rock in mid- 
channel unscathed, because a buoy anchored there tells 
him how to turn. He finds his anchorage because of other 
buoys, and perhaps he makes his ship fast to still another, 
and knows that once more the ocean has been crossed in 
safety and his voyage is ended. 

Almost the whole of the surfaces of all the lands of earth 
bear the marks of man. Most people live their lives ashore 
amid nature that has been radically changed by man. . 
Cities have been built, railroads flung across the land. 
Farms flourish and ploughs have turned up every inch of all 
their acres. A hundred years ago America was wild from 
the Alleghanies to the Pacific. Now one cannot cross it and 
be for more than a few minutes out of sight of signs of men. 

But the ocean rolls ever on just as it rolled in prehistoric 
times. No mark that man has made has changed the sea. 
Yet, while man is unable to change one single thing about its 
solitary waste, he has marked its greater perils and has 
conquered it. The perils of the sea are growing ever less, 
and ships owe much of this to the lights that mark its danger 
spots. 


CHAPTER XII 
SHIP DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, AND REPAIR 


Se design, prior to the opening of the 19th Century, 
was based very largely on rule-of-thumb methods. 
In ancient times, before Greece became a sea power, this 
was particularly true. Shipwrights and sailors came to 
know from experience what qualities were good and what 
were bad, and after many years at their work were able to 
construct ships with some understanding of what the ship 
could be expected to do. 

It took only a little while for them to learn that narrow 
ships were easier to propel than broad ones but that broad 
ships possessed carrying power superior to that of narrow 
ones. Thus the merchant ships were “tubby” while war- 
ships were narrow. If a ship proved to be unseaworthy 
in heavy weather shipwrights naturally did not build other 
ships like her if they were looking particularly for seaworthi- 
ness. If a ship was able, it was only natural that her char- 
acteristics should be incorporated in other ships. If a ship 
otherwise satisfactory permitted seas to come aboard over 
bow or sides or stern, the sailors and shipwrights tried to 
correct the difficulty without losing her good qualities. 
Thus from generation to generation ships improved, al- 
though the process was slow. 

When Greece was at her zenith there seems to have been a 
more thorough study made of structural design, and many 
things about ships were more or less standardized. Just 
how far the Greeks carried their study of ships it is impossible 
to say, but crude methods gave way to finer ones, and Greece 

252 


DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, REPAIR 253 


passed its understanding of ships on to Carthage, and from 
the Carthaginians it went to Rome. But the Middle Ages 
lost this information, as it seems to have lost almost every- 
thing else, and a new beginning had to be made. 

The Norsemen went through a similar development. 
The seas their ships were called upon to sail were almost 
always boisterous. The principal use to which their ships 
were put was war. They had, then, need to be both sea- 
worthy and fast. The early crude attempts of the Norse- 
men, therefore, grew slowly into those beautiful ships for 
which they are famous. To-day the seaworthy whaleboat 
is very similar to the finest examples of the old Norse “‘ser- 
pents.”” These old ships were long, narrow, pointed at bow 


ee 
\ 


Sie 


Oe, 
ROO 

| 
SABA 
PSIPSP SPS 


EN 


S 
‘i 
K 

4 

a ' 


= — 
2 ee Mae nee oe 
2 nig 
a =| 





A SHIP ON THE WAYS 


While a ship may look large on the water, she looks gigantic when on 
land. The great hulls and the collection of scaffolds and machinery in a 
shipyard are always a source of surprise to the visitor who is unfamiliar 
with the construction of ships. 


254 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


and stern, and had both ends raised, while amidships they 
were low. The sheer, that is, the line from the high bow to 
the low section amidships, and from there up again to the 
stern, was a beautiful sweeping curve. Such ships readily 
rode rough seas, while their low “freeboard” amidships 
permitted the oars to be used to good advantage, and their 
narrow hulls presented a minimum of resistance to the water. 
This refinement, however, can hardly be said to have resulted 
from thought so much as from experience. By that I mean — 
that these ships at the highest stage of their development 
were not consciously designed, but were outgrowths from 
experience, and that the shipwrights, only after many gen- 
erations, had learned that such a design combined the ad- 
vantages they particularly desired. 

It was with the Crusades, as I have said before, that ships 
began to improve more rapidly. This was due to the broad- ~ 
ening spheres of travel of western European sailors. They 
visited the Mediterranean and Asia Minor, and found in that 
part of the world ships that were strange to them. But in 
these strange ships they found characteristics that they 
deemed desirable, and, combining these desirable points 
with those of their own ships that were equally desirable, 
they produced improved types. Thus they profited by the 
experiences of others who, in their own little spheres of 
activity, had gradually developed ships that answered, at 
least to a considerable extent, the requirements of their own 
localities. 

It hardly needs to be pointed out that the British, who 
sailed the rough waters of the North and Irish seas and the 
English Channel, developed ships far different from those 
developed by the peoples of Mediterranean countries, where 
the distances sailed were shorter and the weather condi- 
tions were so radically different. 

After the Crusades had introduced the peoples of western 


DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, REPAIR 259 


Europe to those of the Mediterranean, trade between the 
two increased, and, so far as ships were concerned, each 
learned from the other. Thus it was that by the time 
Columbus sailed on his famous voyage, the sea-going ships 
of all the European countries had grown somewhat similar 
in design and appearance. 

A few glimmerings of the complicated subject of naval 


‘ | 
Tea a ii ar ey 
; ee eae iff fll 


Ath fe SS ZN 
\ | ye 














A FLOATING DRY DOCK 
And a ship undergoing repairs. 


architecture became evident in the years that included and 
followed ‘“‘the age of discovery,’ and ships, or at least some 
ships, were “‘designed”’ by men who made a study of them. 
The designs, however, were largely little more than the 
transfer of rule-of-thumb methods to paper, and a real 
understanding of the subject was still far distant. Phineas 


256 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


Pett, during the 17th Century, designed many ships for the — 
British Navy, and from these designs the ponderous ships 
of later days developed. In France, however, naval archi- 
tecture seems to have been a better-understood art than in 
England, for many times British designers improved their 
ships after studying captured French ships. 

The designers in England for many years were guilty of 
one error in particular which, while later corrected, proved 
to be the cause of the loss of several of their very greatest 
ships. This fault was the placing of the lowest tier of gun- 
ports so close to the water that when the ships were under a 
press of sail the ports on one side or the other, and they were 
not watertight even when closed, were under water. During 
the reign of Henry VIII, a British ship named the Marie 
Rose heeled over when getting under way, and the ports, 
which were open and were only sixteen inches above the 
water when she was on an even keel, permitted the water to 
enter in such quantities that she sank. Years later Sir 
Walter Raleigh wrote that this defect was being corrected, 
yet later still the Royal George was lost because of the same 
fault. 

It is interesting to quote a few lines of Raleigh’s writings on 
ship design. Commenting on improvements in lines he 
said that ships with these improvements “never fall into 
the sea after the head and shake the whole body, nor sinck a 
sterne, nor stoope upon a wind.” He also suggested that 
the lowest tier of gunports should not be less than four feet 
above the water. Furthermore, he objected to the high 
sterncastles which made the ships of the time both unsea- 
worthy and ridiculous. 

Modern scientific naval architecture can properly be said 
to date from the latter part of the 17th Century, for it was 
then that the first studies were made of the passage through 
the water of various shaped hulls. Before this, ships were 


DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, REPAIR 257 


built and if they were successful were copied; if unsuccessful 
they had less influence on later design. Now began a study 
that has been carried down to to-day, and scientific deduc- 
tions began to be made, and upon these investigations and 
the results of them an important part of naval architecture 
has been founded. 

Still, however, this new science was crude. One reason 
for this was that ships depended upon the wind for power, 
and it was a slow task to compile comparative data. That 
this was not impossible, though, is proved by the brilliant 
American designers of the first half of the 19th Century, who 
suddenly evolved the clipper ships that so far surpassed all 
previous sailing ships that comparison became mere con- 
trast. 

But it was steam that made it possible for naval architects 
to develop their profession to so high a point as it has reached. 
It was during the 19th Century, then, that naval architec- 
ture made its greatest progress. Since the 19th Century 
great improvements have been made, it is true, and many 
facts have been discovered, and naval architecture still is 
progressing, but the 19th Century made a profession of it, 
and the 20th Century is only continuing its development. 

The profession of the naval architect is one that is not 
widely recognized or understood. When Cass Gilbert de- 
signs a Woolworth Building we recognize him as a great 
architect, and realize, to some extent, the great task he 
has so successfully completed. When the building is built 
we view it with interest, perhaps with awe, and comment 
on the brilliance of the architect and the ability of the con- 
structor. And they deserve all the credit they get—and 
more. 

But how often have you ever heard mention made of the 
architects from whose brains were evolved the Mauretania 
and the Leviathan, the Belgenland and the Majestic? ‘True, 


258 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


it is commonplace to marvel at their size. But who thinks © 
of the titanic task that faced their designers? 

And now imagine a Woolworth Building being built on a 
sloping runway, and, when completed, slid bodily into the 
water, across thousands of miles of which mighty engines 
placed inside could drive her at express-train speed. Im- 
agine such a structure, with all the magnificence of appoint- 
ments that are to be found in the Woolworth Building, forcing 
its way through winter storms with waves pounding madly 
at its sides—waves which, striking the ironbound coasts of 
Maine or Wales, sometimes tear away tons of the living rock 
and hurl it about in a smother of foam. And then compare 
such a structure with the greatest ships of to-day. There 
are several far longer than the Woolworth Building is tall, 
but these vast steel hulls do not rest on foundations of steel 
and concrete—immovable. They float in the water, and 
may pitch and roll in the giant swells of the deep sea, but 
still their huge steel frames easily bear the strain, and while a 
tremor of the earth might dash skyscrapers disastrously 
about our ears, the almost constant motion of the sea, 
whether violent or weak, affects them little. For such work 
as this the architects of ships deserve all praise. 

In such huge and complicated structures as ships have 
grown to be, repairs, naturally, are frequent and vital. The 
ordinary wear to which the machinery is subjected neces- 
sitates constant adjustments and replacements. Improved 
mechanical apparatus sometimes is installed to take the 
place of less reliable or less economical apparatus. The 
action of sea water on the exposed metal and the collection 
below the water line of barnacles and other marine growths 
require periodic attention, while paint seems for ever neces- 
sary and, at least on warships, wet paint is omnipresent. 

Before the introduction of iron and steel, ships were com- 
paratively small, and consequently it was a simpler job to 


DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, REPAIR 259 


ay 


== 


ins: Ss: 5 
i 


= 


SS 


Ve é 
eS pe, l\ 
Min 


a 


peal TTT PULA Nocuceeeeesteessemrezeras 





THE OLYMPIC 
A sister ship of the ill-fated Titantic, and operated by the White Star Line. 


haul them out of water or ground them at high tide in order 
that, when the tide had gone out, their underbodies could 
be examined and repaired. Sometimes, again, tackle made 
fast to their masts and led to anchors dropped well away 
from their sides or to points ashore made it possible for 
ships to be hauled over to one side or the other, bringing a 
large part of their underbodies above water, where their 
crews could make the necessary repairs, or scrape off most 
of the accumulation of marine growth. 

Nowadays, however, when the very smallest of our ocean- 
going steamers is many times the size of Columbus’s largest 
ship, such methods avail little. Sometimes, still, in har- 
bours where there is a large rise and fall of tide the smaller 


260 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


ships avail themselves of it for minor repairs, but for — 
most modern ships such methods are impossible and dan- 
gerous. 

Yet even the greatest ships must from time to time be 
taken out of the water for repairs and for the inspection of 
the hulls, and for this purpose dry docks, or, as they are 
sometimes called, graving docks, came to be designed. 

Dry docks are long narrow basins, the dimensions of 
which are slightly larger than the largest ships they can 
accommodate. Nowadays they are usually built of re- 
enforced concrete, although brick and stone are sometimes 
used, and formerly timber dry docks were not uncommon 
in the United States. The entrances to these basins are 
equipped with hinged gates, or a floating or sliding caisson. 
Dry docks in the United States ordinarily use the floating 
caisson. European dry docks commonly use the other two. 
These seal the mouths of the dry docks, preventing the en- 
trance of water from the outside as powerful engines pump 
the water from the dock itself. 

The sides of dry docks are usually built in steps, so that 
at the top they are wider than at the bottom. The bottom 
is very nearly level, but there are careful arrangements 
made for draining all the water into pits from which it is 
pumped out. 

Extending almost the length of the centre of a modern 
dry dock is a row of large wooden blocks, called keel blocks. 
These can be moved and are made fast when they are put in 
place. Often this row of blocks is paralleled on each side 
by a row of somewhat similar blocks called bilge blocks 
which run along tracks laid at right angles to the line of keel 
blocks. The bilge blocks can be moved individually along 
these tracks by means of ropes and pulleys. These ropes are 
extended up the sides of the dock so that, even when the 
dock is filled with water, each individual bilge block, and 


DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, REPAIR 261 


there are scores of them in each row, can be moved back and 
forth by men beside the dock. 

When it is necessary for a ship to be docked her docking 
plans are given to the man in charge of the dock. He then 
arranges the keel blocks so that the line along their tops is 
the same as the line along the keel of the ship. Certain 
marks are then made at the top of the dock’s side walls to 
show just how far the ship is to be hauled into the dock. 
When these arrangements are completed the dock is flooded, 
the gates are opened, or the caisson is floated out and the 
ship is very carefully and very slowly hauled into the dock. 
She never goes in under power, for the clearance between her 
sides and the sides of the dock is often very small, and the 
greatest of care must be taken to keep her from coming in 
contact with the masonry. 

When she has been hauled up to the point marked on the 
dock side she is carefully made fast with cables, and the 
entrance to the dock is closed. The ship must be riding on 
an even keel, for if she is listing—that is, leaning to one 
side or the other—she may damage herself when the water is 
pumped out and she comes to rest on the keel blocks. 

As the water level is reduced her keel slowly settles on the 
keel blocks which support the whole weight of the ship, 
but in order to prevent the ship from toppling over sideways 
the bilge blocks are pulled carefully under her. As they are 
slightly higher than the keel blocks they touch her bottom 
at some distance from the keel, and as there is a row of them 
on each side they keep her securely upright. Care must be 
taken that none of these bilge blocks come in contact with 
the ship where any of her numerous underwater valves pro- 
ject, for if that happened the valves would be damaged. 
The docking plan referred to, however, shows where such 
protuberances are and such accidents need not occur. 

In dry docks where bilge blocks are not used, the ship is 


262 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


supported instead by “‘shores.” A “shore” is a long timber ~ 
which is placed with one end against the ship and the other 
against the side of the dock. In order to make them fit 
snugly great numbers of varying lengths are kept on hand 
and are chosen so that they come within a few inches of 
filling the space between the ship’s sides and the dock wall. 
Then large wooden wedges are driven in between the dock 
wall and the end of each shore. Dozens of these are placed 
about a ship and serve the same purpose as is served by the 
bilge blocks. 

A ship I was on some years ago was rammed by a coal 
barge while at anchor in the harbour of Brest, France, and 
was forced to go into dry dock for repairs. Being familiar 
with dry-dock procedure only in the United States I was 
unprepared for what has always since seemed to me to be a 
thoroughly picturesque method of placing the shores. 

Our ship was hauled into the dock, the gates were closed, 
and the pumps began to lower the water. Finally she 
settled on to the keel blocks and the shores were floated 
into place, each end being held from above by a line. As 
the water sank lower the wedges were inserted between the 
shores and the dock walls, and a man with a large wooden 
mallet took his place at each wedge. Then the foreman, 
standing at the head of the dock began a song which the 
mallet bearers took up, singing beautifully in unison, their 
voices booming upward from the dry dock, halfway down the 
sides of which they stood. And as they sang they kept 
time with great strokes of theirmallets on the wooden wedges, 
the musical wooden sound ringing in unison with their song 
as every man drove his crashing blows with every other man. 

I stood on the bridge of the ship listening to the lilting 
song, and the great musical crashes that punctuated it, 
every man striking at exactly the same instant that every 
other man struck. Never before or since have I seen a more 


DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, REPAIR 263 


practical demonstration of the uses of song or heard so beauti- 
ful a song of industry. It was an “Anvil Chorus” with a 
different setting. 

There is another type of dry dock that is widely used and 
is of great importance where it is too expensive or difficult 
to build the type to which I have just referred. This other 
type is the floating dry dock. In principle it is a huge barge, 
rectangular in shape, and with highly raised and very thick 
sides and open ends. Its bottom is built up of many com- 
partments and its “‘reserve buoyancy’’ must be at least a 
little greater than the total weight of the largest ship it is 
designed to accommodate. That is, it must be able to 
float while carrying a load of 15,000 tons if it is meant to be 
used by ships up to that displacement. 

These floating dry docks need only to be placed in a 
sheltered spot where the water is deep enough for the dock 
to be sunk so that the dock floor is a little farther beneath 


Ny, 
N\ 


va 


2 pc aed eae § er 
“é e “s Z ee nao. 
ss ZF gee Ae. 23 % Pi gee 
< sz ig BE Ae Ee . Z| > = 
Z Seat’ ‘ LZ £ ZZ, ~ 


AMMAN 
JE TT 


=e) 5 =~ =. 





THE AQUITANIA 
A British built ship operated by the Cunard Line. 


264 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


the surface than is the keel of the ship that is to be docked. — 
When everything is in readiness—that is, when the keel 
blocks are properly placed and the incoming ship has been 
otherwise prepared for—water is allowed to enter the inner 
compartments of the dry dock. Gradually the whole thing 
sinks until only the two high sides are visible above the water. 
When it has sunk until there is enough water over the dock 
floor for the incoming ship to float in, the valves are closed 
and the ship is hauled in and made fast. Then giant pumps 
begin to expel the water that has been allowed to enter the 
compartments. This causes the dry dock to come once more 
to the surface, and as it rises beneath the ship the keel 
blocks press up on the ship’s keel, shores or bilge blocks are 
put in place, and when the ponderous float regains the sur- 
face there is the ship, high and dry, where men can scrape 
and paint and repair her or accomplish the other tasks 
assigned to them. 

It is interesting to watch the labours of a crew of workmen 
in a dry dock. If a ship looks large in the water, it looks 
startlingly gigantic in a dry dock, especially if one walks 
down to the dock floor and views the high bow or the over- 
hanging stern from the level of the keel. Propellers from a 
distance look small, but with half-a-dozen men realigning 
their blades or working about them, they look huge indeed. 

A hundred men may be swinging on scaffolds which are 
hung over the ship’s side by lines from the deck, and they 
remind one who is watching from a distance of flies or ants 
ona wall. A regiment of workmen may disappear beneath 
the huge bulge of the ship’s underbody in order to scrape or 
paint or repair. Fathoms of cable may follow an anchor 
from the hawse pipes to the dock flooras the “ ground tackle” 
—that is, the anchors and cables—is cleaned, painted, and 
examined. Propellers or sections of propeller shafts may be 
swung over the yawning dock and lowered into it by great 


DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, REPAIR 265 


cranes, to take the places of others lost or damaged. Sections 
of the ship bent or cut by collision may be replaced to the 
raucous tune of nerve-shattering riveting hammers. Rivets 
loosened by the “working” of the plates or by galvanic 
action may be renewed. Plates damaged by any of a hun- 
dred causes may be replaced, and great piles of barnacles 


F. 


itl 
ia aan eee Lg TALL 


am be 


2 i Hi 


lt 





THE PARIS 
The greatest French Merchant ship, operated by the French Line. 


scraped from the steel skin of a ship that has been overlong 
between dockings may accumulate on the dock floor. Sea 
valves are reground, the rudder is examined, propeller-shaft 
supports are looked over, and, when the work on the ship’s 
great underbody is completed, the workmen take their tools 
and depart, great valves are opened in the dry dock walls, 
the water enters, and once more the great ship floats. The 
dock gate or the caisson is removed, and carefully the mon- 


266 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


ster of the sea is backed from her gigantic hospital, fit, so 
far as her underwater parts are concerned, for another round 
of duty at sea. 

But dry docks are not necessary for all the repairs a ship 
might need to undergo. To replace or repair engines she 
may go alongside a quay or a pier, and for any of a thousand 
jobs she need never stop her regular voyages. But repairs 
or changes are always under way. To the voyager on a 
handsome liner little of this is apparent, but it is always 
known to the crew, and rare indeed is the time on a steam- 
ship when repairs are neither under way nor contemplated. 

This continuous round of repairs does not mean, though, 
that the steamships of to-day are not properly designed and 
built. It only means that a great ship is so vastly com- 
plicated that some part of it is always just a bit below par. 
A small town needs repair men to keep its electric-light sys- 
tem properly working. Its water system is similarly under 
constant supervision. Its gas, its paving, and a dozen other 
parts of its equipment are always being repaired, renewed, 
or extended. ‘The same is true on board ship, except that, 
at least on the giant liners, the ship’s equipment is more 
complicated than the town’s. 

This wandering discussion presents a few of the difficulties 
that face the designer, the builder, and the operator of ships. 
Such difficulties are all but infinite in number, and constant 
vigilance is vital to the efficient operation of the ships of to- 
day. But so reliable have these great structures grown to 
be that one of the greatest—the Mauretania—while launched 
in 1907, was able after fifteen years of constant and efficient 
service consistently to defeat newer ships of greater size 
and greater power in her constant voyages to and fro across 
the Atlantic. Such results as this must be credited to the 
designer, the builder, and the officers and crews of these 
complicated structures of the sea. 


CHAPTER XIII 


SHIPPING LINES 


i development of ships has been largely influenced by 

competition. The ship that can make the quickest 
voyages can demand the highest freight rates for most 
things. Furthermore, a fast ship can make more voyages 
than a slow one, and the owner may make a greater profit 
because of the greater amount of freight handled. These 
factors, and others less evident, enter into the operation of 
ships. 

To-day great shipping lines control most of the earth’s 
merchant ships. As we know these lines they are a growth 
of hardly more than a hundred years, but thousands of 
years ago their counterparts existed. 

Pheenicia was the greatest trading nation of the ancient 
world. Ships sent out by the traders of Phceenicia sailed to 
every corner of the Mediterranean, and even went out 
into the Atlantic, where they braved the rough waters of 
the Bay of Biscay and sailed up the English Channel on their 
adventurous trading voyages. For every ship that sailed 
to distant parts, however, many remained nearer home, 
visiting ports but a little distance off, and returning with 
less romantic but equally important cargoes. 

Many merchants of Tyre, of Acre, and of Sidon were ship- 
owners. Some sent their ships to Egypt, some to Greece, 
some to Sicily and Italy, some to the Bosphorus and the 
Black Sea. Some traded with Cyprus and the A‘gean Isles, 
some with Asia Minor. Some again sent their ships to the 
Adriatic. It was only a few who risked their ships and 

267 


268 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


cargoes on those long voyages to the ends of the world, out 
beyond the Pillars of Hercules, and north along the tide- 
washed coasts of western Europe to where the days were 
far longer in the summer than the nights, and where the 
winter nights left but little of the day. 

Naturally, the traders who were successful built other 
ships, and sent them in the same trade that had made their 
fortunes, for that was the trade they knew. If a ship- 
owner had had great success in sending his ships to the 
Bosphorus, the natural thing for him to do with any new 
ships he might build was to send them there. When he died 
and his son came to rule over the destinies of his business, 
what would be more natural than for him to continue to 
send his ships to the same part of the world? 

Naturally, the frequent wars of ancient times upset the 
plans of merchants even as wars upset such plans to-day, 
but barring such unfortunate events, trade went on in the 
more or less even tenor of its ways, save for rather numerous 
difficulties caused by pirates and by storm or shipwreck. 

One can almost imagine Tyre and Sidon with their streets 
of merchants’ houses, over the doors of which, if they were 
given to the modern idea of signs, which is unlikely, hung 
shingles reading “‘Ithobal and Son, Traders to the Bosphorus 
and the Euxine.”” “*Assurbani-pal, Ship-owner and Trader 
to the Valley of the Nile.” But whether or not their places 
of business were decorated with such signs, their warehouses 
were full, and ever and anon their ships departed and re- 
turned, laden with goods of value that they carried across 
the seas. 

Properly enough, then, some of these old traders may be 
considered the operators of some of the very earliest shipping 
lines. 

One can almost imagine some old and experienced trader 
talking solemnly with the builder of his ships. 


SHIPPING LINES 269 


“Tuba’lu, my friend,’ one can think of him as_ saying, 
“that last galley thou builtest for me was all but lost while 
on her very first voyage to the Bosphorus. Tiglath, her 
captain, tells me that just as he passed the rocks that lie 
off the island of Chios, a summer storm, not great, but rather 
sudden, smote him. His ship was so distressed by it that 
he all but gave himself up for lost. He has told me that, 
had his prayers to the gods to end the storm availed him not, 
most certainly would he have been dashed to pieces, and all 
my cargo of precious wares would have been lost. He tells 
me that the ship is not fit for storms, and that had he not, 
by the goodness of the gods, been favoured by good weather 
for all the rest of his voyage, he could never have returned 
with his cargo, which has made for me so good a return upon 
my moneys. What thinkest thou of the ship)” 

““My good friend Ithobal,” the builder of ships might be 
supposed to have replied, “methinks the ship was just a 
bit too deeply laden when she left Tyre. So deeply did she 
lie upon the waters that I warned Tiglath against the very 
danger that he later came upon. Yet did he heed me not, 
saying that to make moneys for his master he had need to 
carry Many goods.” 

“And so he has, Tuba’lu, my friend,” Ithobal might have 
replied. “‘My ships must carry many goods to make profits 
for me on such long and dangerous voyages.”’ 

“Then, Ithobal, my friend,” the ship-builder possibly re- 
plied, “‘but let me raise her sides by a cubit and mount upon 
her stern a larger steering oar. Methinks her safety will be 
then assured.”’ 

So it might be supposed that ships were improved in those 
far-distant days. 

Traders similar to those of Phoenicia were common in 
Greece, in Carthage, in Rome, in Venice, and Genoa, and in 
other ports for thousands of years. Until the introduction 


270 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


of machinery and the use of steam power for manufacturing 
goods the cargoes of ships were limited largely to valuable — 
goods taking up but little space, and so such methods were 
efficient enough, especially as the purchasing power of the 
masses was small, and their necessities were almost entirely 
homemade. 

The period following the 11th Century showed some in- 
crease in the amount of freight handled, and a result of the. 
discovery of America was to enlarge this still more. Still, 
however, the greater portion of the population of European 
nations had simple wants and simpler pocketbooks, and not 
for another three hundred years did the mighty purchasing 
power of great numbers of people begin to make itself felt in a 
demand for imported goods. 

With the introduction of machinery, however, and espe- 
cially with the introduction of steam, the workmen found it 
possible to purchase what had theretofore been unthinkable 
luxuries, and thedemand forimported goods grew enormously. 

The East India Company was an early concern in this new 
epoch of world trade. In 1600 this organization was founded 
and, by government charter, was given a monopoly on trade 
to the Far East. Because there was no competition this 
company grew fabulously rich, bringing to Great Britain 
wonderful cargoes of goods not securable except in India and 
China. This, however, was but a greater attempt at trading, 
and except in size and in organization was not greatly differ- 
ent from the methods in vogue two thousand years before. 

It was not until the 19th Century that shipping lines as 
we know them came into existence. Actually it was the 
steamship that brought about the introduction of shipping 
lines, although the famous old packet lines that ran between 
Europe and America went by the name of lines several 
years before the first steamship line was organized. The 
first of these packet lines was the Black Ball Line, which was 


SHIPPING LINES 271 


established in 1816. So successful did this line become that 
it was followed within the next few years by several others. 
The Red Star Line, the Swallowtail Line, and the Dramatic 
Line were some of the most important. Winter and summer 
the packets operated by these lines raced across the Atlantic, 
sailing on scheduled dates, and making remarkably short 
passages, and giving remarkably good service for the times. 
The ships were not large, some of them being hardly more 
than three hundred tons burden, but: for the first ten years 
of the Black Ball Line’s existence the ships of that line av- 
eraged twenty-three days for the eastward passage and forty 
days for the westward, which was much lower than the aver- 
age of other ships of the time. These packet lines continued 
in operation until about 1850, when they had largely faded 
from the sea, unable to compete with the steamships then 
becoming reliable, comfortable, regular, and fast. 

The first steamship line to organize was the City of Dublin 
Steam Packet Company, which began operations in 1823. 
During the following year the General Steam Navigation 
Company was incorporated, and several other British steam- 
ship lines followed rapidly. At first these were for the 
coasting trade, where the regular service they maintained 
was valuable in the extreme, for railroads had not yet ap- 
peared. Before long, however, these lines began visiting 
the continent, and the transatlantic voyages of the Savannah 
in 1819 and the Royal William in 1833 drew the attention of 
steamship-builders and operators to the advantages of 
transoceanic routes. 

In 1837 three companies were organized—the British and 
American Steam Navigation Company, the Atlantic Steam- 
ship Company, and the Great Western Steamship Company. 
In 1838 their first ships sailed to America. The Great 
Western made her first crossing in 13 days and a few hours, 
almost equalling at her very first attempt the fastest voyage 


272 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


(and that from America to Europe) a sailing ship ever made. 
Brave as was the start made by these three lines, however, 
they soon went out of business. 

It is probable that one of the most serious blows they re- 
received in their short periods of activity resulted from the 
success of Samuel Cunard in securing from the British 
Government the contract for carrying the mails from Liver- 
pool to Boston and Halifax. This contract, which included 
a fairly sizable subsidy, required that Cunard build and 
operate four steamships, which the subsidy enabled him to 
operate successfully despite the competition of the other 
three lines. Cunard’s steamers, being all alike and of very 
nearly the same speed, and being despatched at regular in 
tervals, soon took from his competitors the little business 
they had, and they went out of business or transferred their 
ships to other duties. 

The Cunard Line, then, from the Fourth of July, 1840, 
when the Britannia sailed for Boston, has been a successful 
transatlantic line, and is to-day the oldest transatlantic 
line in existence, as well as one of the finest and most power- 
ful. At first this company was known as the “British and 
North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company,” 
and its first ships, the Brilannia, the Acadia, the Caledonia, 
and the Columbia, were each 207 feet long, about 1,150 tons, 
and could carry 115 cabin passengers and 225 tons of cargo. 

In 1840 the Pacific Steam Navigation Company obtained 
its charter and was the pioneer steamship line along the 
western coast of South America. Earlier than this, however 
—in 1835—a firm of London merchants began to run steam- 
ers from England to the Far East. ‘These steamers, sailing 
more regularly and with more dispatch than the sailing 
vessels, were given the contract to carry the mails. This 
service became the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation 
Company, which is still a vigorous and enterprising line, 


SHIPPING LINES 273 


although now it sails out and back through the Suez Canal 
and not by the long route around the Cape of Good Hope. 

One of the two oldest existing steamship lines is the General 
Steam Navigation Company, which I have already men- 
tioned. Founded in 1824, this line still runs steamers from 
England and Scotland to the continent and the Mediterra- 
nean. In 1846 one of its ships—the Giraffe—carried the 
first cargo of live cattle to England. 

While the Allan Line has operated steamships only since 
1852, it may be said to have been founded about 1816, when 
Captain Alexander Allan began running several sailing ves- 
sels between Scotland and Canada. Although this line 
did not adopt steamships until thirty-six years after it was 
founded, it has had a leading place in the development of 
steamships. An Allan liner inaugurated the “spar deck” 
in order that a clear promenade deck might be constructed. 
The first Atlantic steamship to be built of steel—the Buenos 
Ayrean—was an Allan liner built in 1879. The Virginian 
and the Victorian were built in 1905 and were the first trans- 
atlantic steamships propelled by turbines. Such develop- 
ments as these entitle a steamship line to great credit. 

The largest privately owned shipping company in the 
world is the Wilson Line, and it is also one of the oldest. 
It traces its begmnings to 1835 and operates ships between 
Great Britain and Scandinavia as well as between Britain 
and the Far East, and to the United States. It also operates 
ships to South America and other parts of the world. 

The World War radically affected steamship lines, almost 
eliminating some and crippling many. The peace brought 
about the enlargement of several at the expense of the Ger- 
man lines that, during the preceding two decades, had thrust 
their way to the very forefront of the shipping world, only 
to lose it all by the terribly mistaken policies that they 
themselves had helped to foster. 


274 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


In 1900 the two greatest steamship lines in the world were 
the Hamburg-American and the North German Lloyd. In 
1910 they were surpassed only by a consolidation of seven 
British and American lines known as the International 
Mercantile Marine. Yet these two huge companies, at the 
close of the World War, were left with hardly more than a 
handful of ships each, all of their greatest liners, as well as 
most of their smaller ones, having been taken from them to 
sail under the British, American, French, and other flags. 

Consequently, the greatest steamship company to-day— 
and it is so great as to have no close second—is the Interna- 
tional Mercantile Marine, made up of the White Star, the 
Leyland, the American, and the Atlantic Transport lines, 
the Dominion and British North Atlantic Company, the 
National Steamship Company, and some other allied ship. 
ping interests. 

This combination of shipping lines is controlled by British 
and American capital, but most of its ships sail under the 
British flag. American shipping laws are partly responsible 
for this, because of numerous restrictions they insist upon, 
which have proved to be detrimental to lines operating 
ships under the American flag. Other lines, entirely Ameri- 
can owned, have been transferred to foreign register for the 
same reason. 

Prior to the World War American deep-sea shipping had 
shrunk to a woeful degree, and most of America’s imports and 
exports were carried in foreign ships. The war, however, 
changed all that, and the United States, in a remarkably 
short time, had built ships enough to place it second only to 
Great Britain on the sea. Many of these ships were hur- 
riedly and badly built, it is true, and many ridiculous ex- 
periments were tried out, but, despite mistakes, a great 
merchant fleet was built and put into operation. This, of 
course, was a war measure, but with the signing of the Armis- 


SHIPPING LINES 275 


tice America set herself the task of operating this huge 
fleet. Post-war trade, however, did not call for so many 
ships as were in operation, and vast fleets of ships were tied 
up to deteriorate in idleness. Not only America suffered. 
Great Britain, too, found herself with more ships than 
cargoes, and all over the world ships were tied up to wait 
for better times or to fall to pieces in the waiting. 

This unfortunate condition, however, was not entirely 
without advantages. It forced economies in operation 
that resulted in increased efficiency, for ships could only 
continue to carry cargoes if they did so at low rates, and the 
shipping lines, therefore, studied every method by which 
they could reduce their costs of operation. 

This, of course, brought about many rearrangements. 
Some formerly successful lines went bankrupt. Many new 
and inexperienced lines disappeared. Many masters and 
mates found themselves ashore without work, forced to take 
employment at whatever tasks they could get. But new 
lines did make their way, and most of the experienced lines 
managed to hold on, even going into new fields, as the prac- 
tical elimination of the German lines gave them some op- 
portunity to do. And following the war, American ships 
became known in ports where the American flag had not 
been seen for a generation or more. 

This probably means that America is on the seas to stay. 
No longer do internal developments take the attentions of 
the entire nation. The growth of manufacturing, the lack 
of wide public domains open to the “homesteader,” the 
widespread American interests overseas, all point to a 
permanent merchant marine, not, perhaps, so great as is 
Great Britain’s, because America is not so vitally dependent 
on the sea as is Great Britain, but great because America is 
great, and growing because America is still developing. 

In this development shipping lines are the vital factors. 


276 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


Individual ships are merely pawns on a world-wide chess- 
board. <A single ship can do nothing in the complex struc- 
ture of modern commerce. Lines must maintain regular 
service. They must maintain home and foreign offices. 
They must know where cargoes are to be had and where 
they are to go. They must have armies of agents and brokers 
constantly in touch with them. Their ships must be able 
to voyage and return, voyage and return again, always 
filled, never idle, never at a loss for cargoes, else their costly 
structures will crumble, their finances wane, and they will 
find themselves faced with bankruptcy, disruption, reor- 
ganization or destruction. 

Because of world economics shipping lines find it possible 
to develop or find themselves broken. Because the margin 
between success and failure is usually a narrow one shipping 
lines find it essential to seize upon every development that 
increases efficiency and decreases cost. Simple steam en- 
gines became compound, because shipping lines had _ to 
operate their ships with a smaller outlay for fuel in order to 
compete with sail. [ron gave way to steel, because greater 
strength was thus secured with less weight. The turbine 
has made its way against the reciprocating engine because 
of its increased efficiency and its consequent saving in ex- 
pense. Oil is being more and more widely burned instead 
of coal, because its efficiency makes it cheaper through the 
use of fewer men, through increased steaming ability and 
less weight, as well as its cleanliness (on passenger ships) 
and the reduction in time used in coaling. 

Shipping lines are very similar to railroads. A railroad 
train would be of no use to any one if it were owned and 
operated as a unit, even though it had all the tracks in a 
nation at its disposal. The train is practical only because 
the railroad company maintains freight and passenger 
stations, foreign and domestic agents, and all the detailed 


SHIPPING LINES 277 


force that a modern railroad requires. Furthermore, it 
sends its trains over certain routes at certain specified in- 
tervals, ready to move freight and passengers as they are 
ready to be moved. So must a shipping line be operated. 
Ships must be where they are needed, else freight accumulates 
or is diverted to other lines. The huge investments ships re- 
quire necessitate that there be no loss of time and consequent- 
ly ships must not wait for freight to come to them. Because 
ships carry great amounts of freight and cannot lengthen 
or shorten themselves, as trains can, to accommodate fluc- 
tuating quantities, it is often necessary for freight to go in 
“tramp” steamers to ports which attract small amounts of 
freight. But cargoes must be waiting at those ports for 
shipment to some other or the ship loses time and the line 
loses money. Because of this agents are for ever busy, 
cablegrams are for ever being flashed through the ocean 
depths, or ships are diverted by wireless in order to take ad- 
vantage of temporary conditions. 

These are the duties of shipping lines, and the vast com- 
panies of the modern world of the sea are amazingly capable, 
brilliantly alert, for ever in touch with shifting channels of 
trade, alert to fill the needs of a busy world that pays them 
only for the service it demands. 

Perhaps the fierce competition of to-day seems harsh, yet 
it is constructive. Perhaps it bears too heavily upon many 
deserving individuals, yet through it has come about the 
vast improvement that has marked the shipping world in 
the last hundred years—an improvement that has shortened 
voyages, limited the time between continents, reduced the 
very world until voyages around it are now almost common- 
place summer holidays. 

Without competition the old East India Company sent its 
ships from England to the East for 300 years, and served 
Britain little better at the end of that time than at the begin- 


278 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


ning. With competition the transatlantic voyage has been 
cut from forty days to little more than four. Giant ships. 
plough every sea and offer their magnificence to every passen- 
ger who cares to pay the passage money. No longer do 
silks and spices fill the holds of the argosies of the deep. 
Iron ore or polished motor cars, bales of cotton or crates of 
textiles, toys or machinery, hides or shoes, lumber or furni- 
ture—it matters not. Given only a place of origin and 
another place overseas where buyers wish it delivered and 
ships there will be to carry it. There is not a single harbour 
between the eternal ice of the two polar seas that is not 
visited by ships. There is not a person of the billion and a 
half who inhabit the globe but is affected by them. The 
natives of Central Africa buy cotton goods made in England 
of cotton grown in Alabama. ‘The Eskimos of the frozen 
north hunt for seals with guns made in Connecticut. Oil 
that gushes from the rocks of Transcaucasia is refined, and 
burned in motor cars as they roll along the Champs Elysées. 
Copper from the Andes is made into roofing for houses 
everywhere on earth. Toys made in Czechoslovakia or 
Japan fillthe counters of the toy shops of Britain and America. 

No longer do oceans divide the world. As shipping lines 
continue their development they cannot fail to weld the 
world into a vast economic unit, interdependent and friendly, 
useful to one another and to unnumbered generations of the 
future. 

To-day we look back to the beginnings of the shipping 
lines and smile as we think of their trifling activities. Ina 
hundred years they have grown from infancy to vigorous 
manhood, but their future will not be one of senility. In- 
stead, as years go by, their growth will greatly continue, and 
a hundred years from now the point of view of our children’s 
children will probably be to the shipping lines of to-day 
what ours is to the lines of a hundred years ago. 


CHAPTER XIV — 
THE IMPORTANCE OF SHIPS 


eS time immemorial man has sailed the sea, yet is 
the sea but little known. To most of us it is an engima, 
even though we may often have viewed its undulating sur- 
face from the deck chairs of ocean liners. But the ocean 
is not to be learned by idling passengers in deck chairs. 
One must play a part—no matter what—in the struggle to 
master it before one may feel acquainted with it. Nor 
even then may one become familiar, nor trust it over much. 
Sometimes it rages loud and long, and finally, worn out with 
the strain of raging, goes into a sort of restless doze, with 
occasional reawakenings of anger. Sometimes it hides be- 
neath a mask of fog—quiet but untrustworthy, motionless 
but sulky—giving out no warnings of its dangers, and stub- 
bornly interfering with those that man sends out. But these 
are not the moods most natural to the sea. 

Its moods are generally genial. Sometimes it lies for 
days, untroubled by its storms, unhidden by its fogs. All 
day its surface twinkles in the sunlight or all night rocks 
the bright reflection of the moon. It winks and smiles and 
whispers to the sides of every passing ship. Its sounds are 
sibilant and liquid. Or it may be playful, leaping joyously 
in great blue surges, through which the sunlight gleams. 
Now and then, perhaps, a wave may pop an inquisitive 
crest a little above the rail, and sprinkle sparkling drops of 
salty water over a sailor or a passenger, but one need only 
look down beside the ship and see the colour of the waves to 
know that therein lies only virile playfulness. 


ai 


280 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


And these are the more usual of the moods of the sea. 
Now and then it turns gray with anger and flings itself about 
in fits of fuming rage. Now and then it glowers beneath 
the fog, ugly and menacing. But in that, as in its sunny 
gentleness and boisterous fun, it has only the attributes 
of many a child—quick to foolish anger, quick to sullen 
sulking, but just as quick to gentleness and fun, and much 
more given to them. 

But the sea, unfortunately, is generally judged by its 
moments of petulance. It is generally the story dealing 
with storm or fog that finds its way into the papers. In 
that we react toward the sea just as we do toward our neigh- 
bours’ children. Weeks may pass during which they are 
guiltless of a single childish prank and we are likely not to 
think of them at all. But let them tie a tin can to our old 
dog’s tail or run our cat high up among the branches of a 
tree, and we are likely to be loud in criticism of them. 

And so the sea. It periodically, so to speak, ties tin 
cans to the tails of even the biggest ships. It sometimes 
drives badly treated vessels into the protecting reaches of 
our harbours. But for every traveller who has seen a storm 
at sea there are a hundred who never saw one, albeit many 
of these latter, because the ship may have rolled a bit too 
much to suit their untrained stomachs, would swear that 
they had passed through storms of the very greatest magni- 
tude. 

But storms, by and large, are not so serious as landsmen 
sometimes think. This is proved by the numerous long 
ocean voyages that have been made—that are constantly 
being made, as a matter of fact—by small ships, by yachts, 
by tiny sailboats, even by open rowboats, all over the world, 
and often for pleasure. 

In 1896 two young Americans left New York in a small 
light rowboat, without sails or engine, and sixty-two days 


THE IMPORTANCE OF SHIPS 281 





THE SPRAY 
In which Captain Joshua Slocum circumnavigated the globe. 


later landed at Havre, France, having rowed the entire 
distance—aided, of course, by the Gulf Stream Drift and 
_by the fact that the prevailing winds were from astern. 
Such a trip is foolhardy in the extreme and proves nothing 
except that there are people foolish enough to do even so 
nonsensical a thing. 

In 1849 a 41-foot sailboat sailed from New Bedford for 
San Francisco—a 13,000-mile voyage around Cape Horn, 
the most notorious cape in the world—and in 226 days had 
arrived at her destination. 

In 1877 a man and his wife sailed a 20-foot decked whale- 
boat from New Bedford to Penzance, England, in forty-nine 
days. In 1878 a certain Captain Andrews and his brother 


282 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


sailed from Boston to England in a boat only 15 feet 6 
inches long. They made the crossing in forty-five days. 

Captain Joshua Slocum is famous among small-boat 
sailors. He made a voyage of 5,000 miles from Brazil to 
the United States in a 33-foot decked dory built from ma- 
terial salvaged from a wrecked ship. Later he sailed alone 
around the world in the 37-foot yawl Spray, on a voyage that 
occupied three years and two months. Captain Voss, a 
Canadian, sailed 40,000 miles in a 40-foot Alaskan war canoe 
which he had decked and otherwise prepared for the voyage. 
In 1911 Captain Thomas Fleming Day and two companions 
sailed the 25-foot yawl Seabird from Providence, Rhode 
Island, to Gibraltar in thirty-seven days including a five- 
day stop at the Azores. In 1912 the same Captain Day, with 
another party, took the 35-foot motor cruiser Detroit from 
Detroit, Michigan, to St. Petersburg, Russia. In 1921 Alfred 
Loomis and some friends sailed a 28-foot yawl from New 
York to Panama. Nor have [ listed more than a fraction of 
the small boats that have crossed wide stretches of open 
ocean. ‘That such voyages are not so ridiculous as many 
people unacquainted with the sea believe is proved by the 
valuable services rendered by the British motor launches 
during the World War. ‘These 60- and 80-foot motor boats 
patrolled the rough waters of the Irish and North seas and 
the English Channel throughout the long submarine cam- 
paign, and America, as I have said before, in 1917 and 1918, 
sent shoals of submarine chasers, each but 110 feet in length, 
across the Atlantic to England, Ireland, France, the Medi- 
terranean, and even to the Arctic coast of Russia, all without 
the loss by shipwreck of a single vessel. Yet despite all this 
evidence that proves the seaworthiness of small vessels and 
proves, too, the essential kindliness of the sea, most people 
ashore think of long voyages in small boats as being foolhardy 
and suicidal. 


‘o—_ 


THE IMPORTANCE OF SHIPS 283 


Of course, many such voyages have been foolhardy, and 
some have been suicidal. But to the person who knows the 
sea and who knows boats such voyages need be neither the 
one nor the other. A properly designed and constructed 
small boat well handled is not likely to founder. When 
carelessness or lack of information enters into either the 
designing, the construction, or the operation of such a boat 
the result may be different, although the sea, being usually 
in kindly mood, allows many such to pass unscathed. 

In 1922 A. Y. Gowan sailed a 98-foot motor cruiser 
around the world. That the boat was not designed for such 
a voyage is proved by the fact that her gasolene capacity 
was not great enough to permit her to make the longer jumps 







Z 





S=@B—S = 
SiS 7 — 


__——_ 
ee fee —_ 
[es 





Ls 


THE DETROIT 


This 35-foot motorboat made the voyage from Detroit, Michigan, to St. Peters- 
burg, Russia. 


284 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


» ca i 
wr, the sQ 
SI CONT Ah Nae! 
AT Ges TY 
NSN DRE Are SARIS 
E e 


hi 
ey) 


pea: REE NA § eas 


KIC Soe 
2 Be 


— a ‘ 
Lie ier S\ | fale OR part 
SLD CLF TLIELLLES ELT” PG a < t ratty VOM RICHTER EE IES 
A = = — — = or — a cl o> = ~ _ 
as 3 Kt Soiuy NN 


5 Pi = 57 
‘hte oer lai am REND, aera ms Uae enact SMe SNES2gie a seas ASSP ITS 
Ae Zt es ¥ (| 4 Egger: ir yoy ye mp 4c? 
f re re ~ - \ /f — — ~ ty = Ss z . - 
drat Sat a ZI See NS ee a es or 


6) 
ri) 
TEP 


Bb at ow 4 


(iN. Bp p Lk if Vie wai 
UTipz Sp /- LA Sa RSL ly po! Be e sae Rl 
OE Cae Cert oa 





A RECONSTRUCTION OF ONE OF CALIGULA’S GALLEYS 


This luxurious ship was built on Lake Nemi, Italy, during the reign of the 
Emperor Caligula (37-41 A. D.). It sank to the bottom at some unknown 
period, and has often been examined by divers, for it is still in a fair state of 
preservation. It is 250 feet long, and its equipment was of the most luxurious 
kind. Suggestions for its recovery have been made, and it ts possible that the 
lake, which is a small one, may be drained in order to study this old ship and 
another one that is lying near it. 


between ports entirely under her own power. ‘This neces- 
sitated tows, and for many a weary mile of the way she 
wallowed and jerked at the end of a towline. Yet this 
yacht, intended though she was for protected waters, made 
the voyage, although she must have been uncomfort- 
able to a degree in rough weather. This voyage proves 
that with a little thought, in these days of weather reports 
and compiled data on prevailing winds and stormy seasons, a 
small vessel may lay her course so as to avoid the most serious 
bad weather—barring, of course, local storms that do, some- 
times, attain great ferocity. It is well known, for instance, 


THE IMPORTANCE OF SHIPS 285 


that during the summer months the North Atlantic is gener- 
ally mild while during some of the winter months it grows 
exceptionally boisterous and ugly. Therefore the small 
boat that would cross it had best choose the summertime. 
Should Mr. Gowan’s little yacht ever find herself in the grip 
of a really serious North Atlantic winter gale she would 
run a most excellent chance of never seeing pleasant weather 
again. Yet, as I have said, a tiny rowboat crossed this very 
stretch of water in the summer of 1896. 

All of this merely means that good judgment, based upon 
experience and compiled information, is about the most 
valuable bit of sea-going equipment that the deep-sea small- 
boat sailor can have. Nor does that apply only to small- 
boat sailors. Nor, again, is it always necessary for the 
sailor, merely because his boat is small, to feel that he must 
stay in port in heavy weather or founder if it come upon him 





A EUROPEAN SIDE-WHEELER 


These steamers are often seen in European waters and are widely used as 
excursion boats. 


286 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


while he is on the sea. Not by such a doctrine have the 
fishermen of Gloucester made for themselves the reputation 
that they have. Summer and winter they take their schoon- 
ers out to the Grand Banks and live out the greatest storms 
that try those storm-tossed waters. From the deck of a 
50-foot Gloucester fisherman I have seen the seas tower 
high before her bow, seemingly about to crush the craft, 
and have seen the mighty troughs, which, from the crests 
of the great seas, seemed abysmal in their depth, yet did the 
little vessel ride through them without so much as a splin- 
tered rail. These schooners come in loaded with fish and 
often encrusted with ice. It is true that their sails are 
sometimes split, their masts sometimes swept overboard. 
Yet is the fatality among such vessels light, despite the 
fact that they face most of the storms that blow each winter 
on the Banks. 

Had it not been that small boats can safely sail the seas 
it is difficult to see how we ever could have arrived at the 
era of great ships. Ancient history tells us of ships that, at 
least until the prime of Greece and Rome, could not by any 
stretch of the imagination be called large. Yet the old ships 
of the Phoenicians sailed, even before the days of Greece, 
all over the Mediterranean, out into the Atlantic, as far 
north as the English Channel, at least, and on one occasion, 
around Africa. Then came Greece, and ships grew some- 
what in size. Then Rome appeared, and ships grew larger 
still, although most of them still were small, as always. 
By the time of Caligula (37-41 A. D.) Roman shipwrights 
had greatly increased the size of their large ships, as is 
proved by a ship now resting on the bottom of Lake Nemi 
in Italy. 

During and following the Dark Ages ships had again be- 
come small, and only gradually did they enlarge. Even by 
the time of the Spanish Armada a ship of 1,000 tons was 


THE IMPORTANCE OF SHIPS | 287 


considered huge. Yet such ships, as I said, were considered 
very large, not more than a handful of the more than three 
hundred ships in the Armada and the British fleet opposing 
it approaching such a measurement, and hardly more than 
three or four exceeding it. Among the 197 British ships 
that opposed the Armada but seven were more than 600 
tons. 

Even at the beginning of the 19th Century ships of a 
thousand tons or more were rare, and the famous clipper 





A HUDSON RIVER STEAMER 


The passenger steamers of the Hudson are large, speedy, and are capable 
of carrying thousand of excursionists. 


ships of even a later period were smaller almost as often as 
they were larger. Yet did these ships speed on their way 
across the oceans in all weathers in their furtherance of 
trade. 

Of the billion and a half people who inhabit the world to- 
day few indeed appreciate the huge importance of ships. 


288 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


As I pointed out in my opening chapter, the world as we 
know it could not exist without them. Even the far simpler 
world of the ancients required them, and the modern world 
depends on them far more. 

In Great Britain there is a wide and real appreciation of 
the value of merchant shipping. But the fact that Britain 
is an island depending upon lands across the seas for the 
very food that gives it life makes the importance of ships 
more evident. Not only for that, of course, are ships vital 
to Great Britain. To buy food her people must manufac- 
ture goods to sell to foreign peoples. Does the manufacturer 
weave textiles? His raw materials come from the United 
States, from Egypt, from Australia and New Zealand. 
Does he manufacture tires?) His raw materials must be 
bought in the East Indies and Egypt. Does he manufacture 
cutlery? His product, or at least much of it, must be sold 
in foreign markets in order that such foreign products as 
are not to be found in Britain may be purchased. Does 
he need oil? He must buy it from the Dutch East Indies, 
from Transcaucasia, from America. Do the people need 
sugar for their tea? It must come from Cuba or Jamaica. 
Does the country need copper? It may come from Peru or 
Michigan. Furs? From Canada. Wheat? Argentina, 
Canada, Australia, the United States, Russia. Coffee? 
Brazil or Java. Rice) Japan, the Philippines. Lumber? 
Canada. Paper? Canada or Scandinavia. 

And for every cargo bought in foreign lands a cargo 
should be returned, else trade is unhealthy and will lan- 
guish. Britain, to a large extent, imports raw products 
and food, and exports manufactured articles and coal. 
This the people know and deeply realize. The result is that 
Britain’s merchant fleet is the greatest the world has ever 
seen. 

But in the United States the vital importance of ships is 


THE IMPORTANCE OF SHIPS 289 





A STEAM YACHT 


Unfortunately the type of yacht pictured here is less common than for- 
merly. These are being replaced by yachts with less graceful lines, differing 
from this in many respects but perhaps most noticeably in having a per- 
pendicular bow and no bowsprit. 

not widely understood. During the last decade of the 19th 
Century and the first one of the 20th it might almost have 
been said that the subject was not understood at all. The 
World War corrected that somewhat, but even after that 
holocaust had forced the subject before the public and had 
created a condition that demanded ships, the subject was 
not more than superficially grasped. The result was that 
the nation that had suddenly leaped to a position in world 
shipping second only to Great Britain so lightly took its re- 
sponsibilities that its great fleet of ships was permitted to 
run down when an economic crisis made it impossible for 
them to find cargoes. Almost as important in this deteriora- 
tion of the American Merchant Marine after the war were 
the backward laws and lack of interest on the part of the 
people. 


290 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


But the United States is not so situated that the impor- 
tance of ships can easily be appreciated. ‘The people would 
not starve if there were no ships, for the nation’s own re- 
sources, seconded by those of Canada, would prevent such 
a calamity. ‘The land has coal and steel, has copper and 
cotton and farm products. It could have enough sugar 
without going overseas. Its great area and diversity of 
climatic conditions produce, perhaps, more of the necessities 
of life than can be produced by any other single nation. Yet 
is it dependent upon ships. Without them the millions of 
automobiles would shortly stop running—for lack of rubber, 
from which to make tires and insulation. Without ships 
the vast wheat crop could only with difficulty be harvested 
—for lack of binder twine, which is made from Yucatan 
sisal. 

These imports are vital and there are others equally so, 
besides thousands without which we could get along, but 
less comfortably. Coffee and tea, spices, silk, diamonds 
(not merely for jewellery, which is unimportant, but for 
industry in which vast numbers of them are essential to 
many processes of manufacture), chocolate, fish (or at least 
most of them), many metals necessary to industry, ingredi- 
ents for many important drugs and medicines, mahogany 
and other fine woods which are vital for more than furniture, 
and a thousand other things that now are a part of everyday 
life. 

The high standards of living now commonly accepted by 
the people of the United States would be greatly lowered 
were it not for the ships that bring to its ports the products 
of foreign lands and take away the country’s excess food 
products and manufactured and raw materials bought by 
those foreign lands. 

Nor, as the World War showed Americans, is it wise to 
depend upon foreign nations to transport all their products 


THE IMPORTANCE OF SHIPS 291 


to America and carry all America’s products away. To be 
healthy the nation should maintain its own cargo fleet, which, 
in turn, should provide itself with terminal facilities not 
only at home but also abroad, in order that cargoes may 
be loaded and unloaded economically and without delay. 
America has passed the era in which the interior develop- 
ment of the nation utilized all the energies of its ambitious 
population. Already it has stepped into the field of foreign 
commerce in which it must now continue. Time was when 
the nation’s interests lay entirely at home, but that time is 
no longer. Increasingly will America’s exports be a factor 
in foreign markets, and upon this depends to an ever-growing 


220-5 =— 


i 





AN EXPERIMENT OF 1924 


This ship, designed by a German, is propelled by the wind blowing against 
the two strange towers. These towers are rotated by a motor with the result 
that, according to the Magnus law, the pressure of the wind becomes greater 
on one side of each tower than on the other, thus tending to move the ship. 
It seems hardly likely, at the time this book goes to press, that this application 
of a formerly unused physical law will revolutionize the propulsion of ships. 


292 SHIPS OF THE SEVEN SEAS 


extent the welfare of Americans. Time was when the land 
was the producer only of raw materials. Now it is one of 
the world’s greatest manufacturing nations, with an infinite 
number of products that cannot be consumed at home. 
Ships, then, must become a growing interest of Americans, 
for upon ships, and largely upon their own ships, must they 
depend to maintain the standards of living that have made 
Americans the most fortunate of the peoples of the world. 
~ Whether it be the citizen of New York or of San Francisco, 
of the mountain states or of the prairies—whether it be the 
clerk, the farmer, the manufacturer, or the ranchman— 
whether it be the millionaire or the day labourer, the teacher 
or the business man, still should he interest himself in ships, 
for only upon a wide appreciation of their value can wise 
legislation be built, and only with the support of the people 
can great fleets be maintained to carry the nation’s products 
to other lands and return with those vital cargoes upon 
which the nation’s comfort and happiness are so largely 
built. 


THE END 


APPENDIX 





\ ¥ » *< ie i 
4) oh | A it f 
j Lia } 
{ ne 
, ( 
' 
‘ 
. ‘ 
A iv 
+ 
\ 
' 
. 
. 
i 
© Vera 
om 
« 
‘ 
‘ 
A 
, 
ip ii \ 





APPENDIX » 


An abridged dictionary of nautical words and expressions 


I am anxious that it should not appear that I believe the following list 
to be either complete or adequate. The phraseology of sailors is often so 
saturated with nautical expressions that a person uninitiated into the 
fraternity of the sea might easily find their conversations almost beyond 
his comprehension. The words that follow, however, and their definitions, 
will make clear any portion of the text of this book which may have more of 
a nautical flavour than I intended, and may, too, clarify other things in the 
minds of those unacquainted with the language of the sea.—H. D. 


9 


a—An Anglo-Saxon prefix for ‘‘on’” or “in.” It is in constant 
use at sea, as in aback, aboard, astern, etc. 

aback—Spoken of square sails blown back against a mast by a 
sudden change of wind, or, in some instances, put in that position 
purposely for some special purpose. 

abaft—Behind or toward the stern of a vessel. Thus, abaft the 
bridge will mean toward the stern from the bridge. 

abeam—On the side of a vessel, amidships. Thus, an object abeam, 
or on the beam, is an object at right angles to the vessel amid- 
ships. 

aboard, or on board—On, or in, a vessel. 

about—A turning round. To go aboul—To turn a vessel round, 
in sailing, so that the wind comes over the other side. See tack. 

adrift—Anything which floats unfastened, as a boat or a spar, 
which may have broken away, or a ship which has parted from 
her anchor. Seamen also refer to articles carelessly lying around 
a ship as adrift. 

aft—Behind; toward the after or stern part of a vessel. Thus, 
the poop deck is aft. 

alee—To put the helm alee means to bring it toward the side of the 
ship away from the wind. This heads the boat into the wind, 
or, if the helm is kept alee, brings her about. 

295 


296 APPENDIX 


aloft—Up in the tops—overhead. In the upper rigging, or on the 
yards, etc. 

alongside—By the side of. 

amidships—Generally speaking, the middle portion of a vessel. 

anchor—A metalhook specially designed to take hold of the bottom 
in comparatively shallow water. A cable connecting the anchor 
and the ship makes it possible for a ship to maintain her position 
against wind or tide or current. Anchors are of many shapes 
and vary in size from a few pounds to a number of tons. 

anchorage—A section of a harbour or a roadstead where ships 
may anchor. 

aneroid—A barometer which is operated by the pressure of the 
atmosphere on a metal disc covering a partial vacuum. The 
varying pressure operates the hand on a dial, and this is gradu- 
ated to the same scale as is a mercurial barometer. 

artemon—A sail used on Roman ships. It was square and was 
mounted at the bow on a kind of mast that leaned over the bow. 
Later its place was taken by the spritsail. 

astern—Behind. In the after part of the vessel; behind the vessel; 
in her wake. 

astrolabe—An instrument of the late Middle Ages with which 
mariners attempted to learn their latitude. The instrument 
was very imperfect in its workings. 

astronomical ring—<An instrument that was meant to improve on 
the astrolabe, but which was just as inaccurate. 

athwart, athwartships—Across. Hence the rowers’ seats in an 
open boat are called thwarts because they lie athwart, or across the 
boat. To drop athwart anything—To come across it; to find it. 

auxiliary—A sailing ship equipped with an engine for use in 
emergency or in crowded waters is said to be an auxiliary. 
Sometimes sails are carried on power-driven vessels for use in 
case it is desirable not to use the engine or in case of breakdown. 
In this case also the ship is an auxiliary. 

avast—The order to stop or pause in any exercise; as, ‘‘Avast heay- 
ing.” 

aweather—Toward the weather side; 1. e., the side upon which the 
wind blows. 


APPENDIX 297 


aweigh—Spoken of an anchor when it has been lifted from the 
bottom. 

aye (adv., perhaps from ajo, Lat. (defective verb), to say yes)— 
Yes; always used in lieu thereof at sea, with a repetition, ‘Aye, 
aye, sir,’ meaning, “‘I understand; and will execute the order.” 


back—With sailing ships: To back a square sail is to haul it over 
to windward so that the wind blows it against the mast. With 
steam vessels: Back her is an order to reverse engines, so that 
the ship may be suddenly stopped or made to go astern. 

back-stays—Ropes stretched from a mast to the sides of a vessel, 
some way aft of the mast, to give extra support to the masts 
against falling forward. 

balance lug—See Luc. 

bale, baler—To bale or bale out is to remove water from a boat 
by means of a baler, which may be any small container capable 
of holding water. 

ballast—Weight deposited in a ship’s hold when she has no cargo, 
or too little to bring her sufficiently low in the water. It is used 
to counterbalance the effect of the wind upon the masts and 
give the ship a proper stability, that she may be enabled to 
carry sail without danger of upsetting, and is sometimes used 
in steam vessels to increase their stability or to correct their 
‘‘trim’’; that is, in order that neither bow nor stern will float too 
high. 

balloon canvas, or press canvas—The extra spread of canvas 
(i. e., sail) used by yachts in racing, generally, in a great sail 
often called a “‘ballooner.”’ 

bank (of oars)—A tier of oars all on one level. In ancient oar- 
driven ships there were often several banks. All the oarlocks 
that were at the same distance above the water level mounted 
oars said to be in the same bank. 

barbette—The heavy armoured foundation on which the turret 
of a modern battleship is mounted. 

barge—A general name given to most flat-bottomed craft. In 

ancient and medieval times the name was given also to large 
boats of state or pleasure, and in later days to one of the small 


298 APPENDIX 


boats of a man-of-war. The barges of to-day are of various de- 
scriptions, being either sea-going, river, or canal. 

barkentine—A three-masted sailing vessel, square rigged on the 
fore- and mainmasts, and fore and aft rigged on the mizzen. 
For illustration see page 201. | 

barometer—An instrument for measuring the weight or pressure 
of the atmosphere. A careful study of its changing record 
makes it possible to foretell many of the changes in the weather. 

batten—A long strip of wood. Battens are used for many pur- 
poses, such as covering seams inside the hull. To batten down 
—To cover up tightly; usually spoken of hatches when they are 
closed tightly. 

battle cruiser—A large and very powerful fighting ship, of high 
speed, and with an armament equal or superior to that of a 
battleship, but very lightly armoured. 

beam—The width of a vessel at her widest part. 

bearing—The direction, or angular distance from a meridian, in 
which an object lies. 

beat—To beat to windward is to make progress in a sailing vessel in 
the direction from which the wind is blowing. 

belay—To make fast; as, to belay a rope. 

belaying pin—A movable pin or bolt of wood or metal to which 
lines are belayed. 

below—To go below is equivalent, on shipboard, to going down- 
stairs. 

berth—A bed or bunk on board ship; a place for a ship to tie up 
or anchor is sometimes called a berth. 

between decks or ’tween decks—Any place below the main deck 
on a ship of more than one deck. | 

bilge—That part of the hull of a ship inside and adjacent to the 
keel. 

bilge keel—F ins of wood or steel approximately paralleling the keel 
but built into and projecting from the ship at about where the 
bottom and the sides might be said to join. They are intended 
to minimize the rolling of the ship. 

bilge water—Water that collects in the bottom of the ship. As this 
is always at the lowest part of the hull, oil and other impurities 


APPENDIX 299 


are always a part of the bilge water, with the result that its 
odour is generally offensive and it is very dirty. 

binnacle—The fixed case and stand in which the steering compass 
of a vessel is mounted. 

bireme—An ancient ship, driven by two banks of oars. 

bitts—Posts of metal or timber projecting from the deck, to which 
lines may be made fast. 

Blackwall hitch—A knot. For illustration see page 193. 

block—A pulley used on board ship. 

boat—A small vessel. It isimproper to refer to large ships as boats. 

bob stay—A stay or rope made fast to the stempost of a ship 
at the cutwater and leading to the end of the bowsprit. 

bolt-ropes—The ropes along the borders or edges of a sail for the 
purpose of strengthening those parts. 

bonnet—A narrow strip of canvas laced to the foot of sails on 
small vessels to increase their area in light winds. More com- 
mon in medieval times than now. 

boom—The spar at the foot of a fore and aft sail. There are 
other booms for other uses, such as a boat bobom—a spar project- 
ing from the side of a ship and to which small boats floating 
in the water are made fast when the ship is at anchor. 

bow—The front end of a vessel. The port bow is the left side of 
the front end, and the starboard bow is the right side. 

bowline—A knot. For illustration see page 193. 

bowsprit—The spar projecting from the bow of a ship and to which 
the fore stays are led from the foremast. It is a highly impor- 
tant part of a sailing ship’s rigging, but when used on power- 
driven ships, as it often is on steam yachts, it is more decorative 
than necessary. 

boxing the compass—Repeating the points of the compass in 
order, starting from any point. 

brace—Ropes on a square-rigged ship leading to the ends of the 
yards and used for the purpose of setting the yard at the proper 
angle to the mast are called braces. 

breaker—A small water barrel. 

breakers—Waves that curl over and break because of shallow 
water. 


300 APPENDIX 


breakwater—An artificial bank or wall of any material built to 
break the violence of the sea and create a sheltered spot. 

bridles—Several lines leading from a larger line to distribute the 
strain on an object to which they are attached. 

brig—A vessel with two masts (fore and main) both of them square 
rigged. For illustration see page 201. 

brigantine—Same as a brig except that it has a fore and aft 
mainsail. For illustrations see page 201. 

broadside—The firing of all the cannon on one side of a warship 
at the same moment. 

bulkhead—A partition of almost any material. Nowadays steel 
bulkheads are most common. Their purpose is to divide the 
ship, generally laterally, into separate compartments that, in 
the highest designs, are watertight. 

bulwarks—A parapet around the deck of a vessel, serving to guard 
passengers, crew, and cargo from the possibility of being swept 
overboard. 

bumboat—A small harbour boat allowed to visit ships in port and 
supply the sailors with various articles. 

buoy—A floating marker intended as a guide or a warning. Buoys 
have been more or less standardized, but in many different parts of 
the world similar shapes and colours still stand for different things. 


cabin—A habitable apartment on shipboard. 

cable—The rope or chain by which a ship’s anchor is held. 

calking—Stuffing the seams of wooden ships with oakum. 

can buoy—A buoy which shows above water the form of a cylinder. 

canoe—A light boat propelled by paddles. Sometimes sails are also 
used. 

capstan—A kind of windlass sometimes found on ships, and used 
principally for raising the anchor. 

caravel—A ship commonly in use in the “age of discovery”; that 
is, during the 15th Century. Columbus’s Santa Maria was one 
of these. For illustration see frontispiece. 

careen—The operation of tilting a ship over to one side or the 
other by means of tackle led from her masts to points at some 
distance from her side. a 


APPENDIX 301 


cargo liner—A freight ship that sails on scheduledates overa given 
route, as passenger liners do. 

carrick bend—A knot. For illustration see page 193. 

carvel—A method of small boat-building in which the board cover- 
ings present a smooth surface. 

catamaran—A boat made up of two parallel and equal hulls held 
together by a framework. 

catboat—A small sailing boat with one mast and a single sail 
which is generally similar in shape to the mainsail of a sloop. 
For illustration see page 203. 

centreboard—A movable sheet of metal or wood sometimes used 
by small sailboats. It extends through the keel and presents 
a large surface to the water and tends to eliminate lateral mo- 
tion while the boat is under sail. A kind of folding keel. 

chart—A map of the sea and coast projections for useby navigators. 
Features of the bottom are also shown for shallow water. 

chronometer—An accurate timepiece generally registering the 
time at Greenwich, England. Navigators require this instru- 
ment in working out their longitude. 

clinker—A method of small boat-building in which the covering 
planks overlap as weatherboarding does on the side of a house. 

clipper—A fast sailing ship suddenly developed in the first half of 
the 19th Century. Generally, but not necessarily, the clippers 
were full-rigged ships. They were popular for about fifty years. 
For illustration see page 63. 

cockpit—See WELL. 

collier—A vessel employed in the coal trade. 

companionway—The entrance to a ladder or flight of stairs lead- 
ing from one deck to the one below. 

compass—A magnetized instrument which points approximately 
in the direction of the Magnetic Pole and from which direc- 
tions can be learned. 

corvette—A small warship of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. 

crossjack (pronounced ‘“‘cro-jak’’)—The square sail sometimes 
hung from the lowest yard on the mizzenmast of a full-rigged 
ship. It is not commonly used. 

crosstrees—The arms extending laterally near the head of a mast 


302 APPENDIX 


at right angles to the length of the vessel and to the extremities 
of which the topmast shrouds are stretched for the purpose 
of giving support to the topmast. 

cruiser—A large, fast, and lightly armoured ship of war. The 
expression is also used in yachting, meaning a boat meant for 
cruising. | 

cutter—A sailing boat with one mast carrying staysail, jib, fore 
and aft mainsail, and sometimes a topsail. Other sails are also 
sometimes added. In various navies the expression is used to 
denote a large heavy rowboat propelled by as many as ten 
oars. | 

cutwater—That portion of the stem of a vessel that cleaves the 
water as she moves ahead. 


davit—A light crane mounted ona ship’s side and used for hoisting 
and lowering boats. Ordinarily two davits are used to each 
boat. The projecting beam over which the anchor is sometimes 
hoisted is also sometimes called a davit. 

deck—The covering of the interior of a ship, either carried com- 
pletely over her or only over a portion. Decks correspond to 
the floors and roof of a flat-topped building. 

derelict—A ship adrift at sea without her crew. 

destroyer—Formerly called ‘‘torpedo-boat destroyer.” These 
ships are enlargements of torpedo boats and were originally 
designed to destroy those small, fast warships. They have 
proved very useful for many naval duties, and are now an 
important part of every large navy’s forces. 

dhow—A small sailing vessel common in Egyptian and Arabian 
waters. It generally carries one or two lateen sails. 

dinghy—A small open boat used as a tender for a yacht. 

dock—An artificially constructed basin for the reception of vessels. 
It may be a wet dock, where ships lie while loading and unload- 
ing, or a dry dock, in which they are repaired after the water 
is pumped out. 

dock yard—An enclosed area in which the work connected with 
the building, fitting out, or repair of ships is carried on. 

drabbler—An additional strip of canvas, sometimes laced to the 


APPENDIX 303 


bottom of the “bonnet’’ on a square sail when the wind is light. 
Rarely seen nowadays, but common in the Middle Ages. 

draft—The depth beneath the surface of the water of the lowest 
point of a ship’s keel. 

dreadnaught—A modern battleship carrying heavy armour and 
a main battery of guns all of a very large and uniform calibre. 

driver—The fore-and-aft sail on the mizzenmast of a square-rigged 
ship. It is sometimes called the spanker. 

dry dock—An artificial basin which can be flooded in order to 
permit the entry of ships, and then pumped dry in order that 
their hulls may be examined, painted, and repaired. 

dugout—A canoe or boat made from a log hollowed out and cut 
down until it has become a vessel capable of carrying one or 
more passengers. 


ensign—The flag carried by a shipas the insignia of her nationality. 
Also, the lowest commissioned officer of the United States Navy. 


fathom—A nautical measure, equal to six feet. 

fid—A bolt of wood or metal which holds the heel of a topmast. 

fife rail—A plank or rail in which a group of belaying pins is kept. 

figure of eight—A knot. For illustration see page 193. 

flagship—That ship of a fleet or squadron which flies the flag of 
the admiral in command. 

fore and aft—An expression signifying those sails which, when at 
rest, lie in a line running from bow to stern of a vessel. The 
sails of a schooner are fore and aft. 

forecastle—Formerly a raised “‘castle’”’ built at the bows of ancient 
and medieval ships from which the decks of enemy ships could 
be attacked. Nowadays the quarters of the crew on board ship 
—generally in the bows of ships. 

foremast—The mast nearest the bow of a vessel having more than 
one mast, except on yawls, ketches, and other sailboats where 
the mast nearest the bow is larger than the mast farther astern. 

foresail—On a square-rigged ship, the lowest square sail on the 
foremast. On a schooner, the sail stretched between the boom 
and the gaff on the foremast. 


304 APPENDIX 


forward—The forward part or the forepart; that is, the vicinity 
of the bow of a vessel. To go forward is to go toward the 
bow. 

freeboard—That portion of avessel’s side which is freeof the water; 
that is, which is not submerged. 

freighter—A ship engaged in carrying freight. 

frigate—A warship of the last days of sail. It was full rigged and 
had two decks on which guns were mounted. The Constitution 
is a frigate. For illustration see page 145. 

full-rigged ship—A ship carrying three masts, each mounting 
square sails. For illustration see page 201. 

funnel—The smokestack or chimney connected with the boilers of 
a ship. 

furl—To roll a sail and confine it to its yard or boom. 


gaff—The spar at the top of some fore and aft sails, such as the 
mainsail or foresail of a schooner. 

galleon—A heavy vesselof the time of Spain’snautical supremacy. 

galley—(1) In ancient and medieval times a ship of war propelled 
by oars and sails. (2)The kitchen of a ship. 

gangplank—A movable runway used to bridge over the gap from 
a ship’s deck to a pier. 

gangway—A narrow platform or bridge passing over from one 
deck of a vessel to another, as from the poop to the midship 
deck of a freighter. 

gear—Any part of the working apparatus of a vessel, as the gear 
of the helm, which consists of the tiller, the chains, the blocks, 
and all other necessary parts. 

gig—A small boat formerly often carried on shipboard and meant 
for use when in port. 

gimbals—The brass rings in which a compass is mounted, and 
which permit it to remain horizontal despite the motions of the 
ship. 

gondola—A Venetian boat, used in the canals more or less as taxi- 
cabs are used in streets. It is propelled by one or two oarsmen, 
each with a single oar. 

granny—A knot. For illustration, see page 193. 


APPENDIX 305 


graving dock—Same as dry dock. 

ground—To run a ship into water so shallow that she rests on the 
bottom. 

ground tackle—The gear connected with and including the 
anchors of a ship. 

gunboat—A small warship used for minor naval duties. 

gunwale—The top of any solid rail along the outside of a vessel is 
generally called a gunwale. 

guy—A steadying rope, as the guy of a spinnaker, which serves to 
keep that sail forward. 

gybe—The swinging over of a fore and aft sail when the wind, 
accidentally or intentionally, has been brought from one side 
of it to the other around its free edge. This is sometimes a 
foolish and dangerous manceuvre. 


halyard—A rope (sometimes a chain) by which a sail, flag, or 
yard is hoisted. 

handsomely—A term which sounds contradictory. It means 
the opposite to hastily, and is used often with reference to ropes 
or halyards; as, “‘Lower away handsomely,” which means lower 
away gradually. 

hatchway—An opening in the deck of a vessel through which 
persons or cargo may descend or ascend. 

hawsepipes—Short tubes through which the anchor cable passes 
from the forward deck to the outside of the bow. 

hawser—A cable or heavy rope used for towing and for making 
fast to moorings. 

head sails—All the sails set between the foremast and the bow and 
bowsprit of a sailing ship. These are the fore staysail and the 
inner, outer, and flying jibs. Occasionally there may be others, 
such as a spritsail. 

helm—Used interchangeably with the word “‘tiller.’’ Theoretically, 
every rudder is equipped with a helm or tiller, although actually 
tillers are seldom used except on small boats. To port your 
helm (tiller) means to push the handle of the tiller to the port 
side. This steers the vessel to starboard. ‘Therefore, when the 
order to port the helm is given on board any ship, it is intended 


306 APPENDIX 


that the steering apparatus be so operated that were there a 
tiller on the rudder it would be moved to port. 

hermaphrodite brig—A two-masted sailing ship with square sails 
on the foremast and fore-and-aft sails only on the main. This 
type is often incorrectly called a brigantine. For illustration 
see page 201. 

hold—The inner space in a vessel in which the cargo is stowed. 

holystone—A soft, porous stone used for scouring the decks. Its 
name comes from its shape, which fancy has suggested is that 
of a Bible, and to the fact that when it is in use the sailors are 
invariably on their knees. 

hull—The hull is the body of a vessel, exclusive of rigging or equip- 
ment. 


Jacob’s ladder—A collapsible ladder made of wooden steps strung 
between two ropes. It is used over the sides of a ship when 
the ship is at sea, as, for instance, when a pilot comes aboard or 
departs. 

jaws—The horns at the end of a boom or gaff, which keep it in its 
position against the mast. 

jib—One of the triangular headsails of a sailing vessel. There 
are several, as follows: balloon jib, flying jib, inner jib, jib of 
jibs (only on large ships), jib topsail, middle jib, spitfire, standing 
jib, storm jib. 

jib-boom—A spar running out beyond the bowsprit for the purpose 
of carrying other jibs. Flying jib-boom—A boom extending 
beyond the jib-boom for the purpose of carrying the flying jib. 

jigger—The fourth mast from the bow in a ship carrying four or 
more masts. The second from the bow in a yawl or a ketch. 

jolly boat—A boat corresponding to a dinghy. 

junk—A ship common in China and Japan. It is ungainly in 
shape, but is often remarkably seaworthy. It is driven by 
sails which are often made of matting. 


kayak—A small canoe used by the Eskimos. It is made by 
covering a light framework with skins, and is decked. Generally 


APPENDIX 307 


there is but one hatch just large enough for a single occupant 
to sit in. Occasionally there are two of these openings. It is 
propelled by paddles. 

kedge—A small anchor carried by large vessels for use in shallow 
water or for use in keeping the main anchor clear. 

keel—The backbone of a ship. It is a strong member extending 
the entire length of the centre of the bottom, and from it the 
ribs are built at right angles. Fin-keel—A thin and deep pro- 
jection below the keel of some sailing ships, principally yachts, 
designed so as to prevent the ship from being blown sideways 
by the wind, and generally weighted at the bottom by an addi- 
tion of lead or iron to insure stability to the vessel. 

keelson—An addition to the keel inside the boat. It rests upon 
the keel and strengthens it. 

ketch—A sailing vessel with two masts and with fore-and-aft sails. 
The mast nearer the bow is the larger of the two and is called 
the main. The one toward the stern is, in America, generally 
called the jigger, and in England the mizzen. It is placed just 
forward of the wheel or tiller. It is in this particular that it 
differs from a yawl. 

knot—A nautical mile per hour is a measure of speed. It is often 
incorrectly used as a synonym for a nautical mile. 

knot—The fastening of a rope. For illustrations see page 193. 


landlubber—An uncomplimentary term used by sailors inreference 
to any one not familiar with ships and the sea. 

_ Jarboard—tThe old term for port, or the left-hand side of a vessel. 
No longer in use because of its close resemblance to starboard, 
which is the term meaning the right-hand side. 

lateen—A triangular sail of large size hung from a very long yard. 
It is common in Egyptian waters and is to be seen occasionally 
about the Mediterranean and in the East. The yard is often of 
immense length, sometimes being twice as long as the boat itself. 

launch—A small vessel propelled by some kind of motor, and 
generally used for pleasure. To launch—To put a new vessel 
into the water. This is ordinarily a function of more or less 
formality. 


308 APPENDIX 


lead—A leaden weight attached to the end of a line used to meas- 
ure the depth of the water. 

lee—The lee side of a vessel is the side opposite that against which 
the wind blows. A lee shore is a shore on the lee side of a ship, 
and is therefore to be feared, for the force of the wind tends to 
blow the ship ashore. “Under the lee of the shore,’ however, is 
an expression meaning in the shelter of a shore line from which 
the wind is blowing. 


leech (meaning lee edge)—The aftermost, backmost, or lee margin 
of a sail. 

leg-of-mutton—A triangular sail sometimes used on small sail- 
boats. 

leeward—On the lee side. An object to leeward is on the lee side. 
Pronounced “‘loo-ard”’ or “‘lew-ard.”’ 

lifeboat—A boat carried for the purpose of saving lives in case the 
ship which carried it is wrecked. Strict laws force all ships to 
carry these small boats, and the ships must carry life preservers 
in addition. lLifeboats are also maintained ashore in order to 
assist the crews of wrecked ships. 

lighter—A barge intended for use in port or on rivers and meant to 
carry freight. ‘The name comes from the fact that these barges 
“‘lighten”’ or unload ships. Ships also are often loaded from 
them. 

lighthouse—A structure erected ashore or in shallow water and 
equipped with a powerful light, visible for miles at night. This 
acts as a warning, and shows the position of the danger to 
navigation which it is erected to mark. 

lightship—A floating lighthouse, securely moored where it may 
mark a danger, such as a reef or a shoal, or at the entrance to a 
harbour in order to show the safe way in. 

line—A small rope. The line—A nautical expression for the equa- 
tor. 

line-of-battle ship—The most powerful naval vessels at the end 
of the days of sailing navies. 

liner—A term which has come to mean a large passenger ship 
operated by a steamship line. The expression seems to include 
only salt-water ships. For instance, a river steamer, even 


APPENDIX 309 


though operated on a regular schedule by a steamship line, 
would not be called a liner. 

log—An instrument that measures the distance a ship travels 
through the water. (2) The journal in which all the events of 
importance and interest on board ship are carefully written. 

lubber—An awkward fellow. | 

lubber’s line—A line marked on the inside of a mariner’s compass 
case, showing the exact fore and aft direction of the ship. The 
moving compass card revolves so that the points or degrees with 
which it is marked pass close to this line, and thus the man 
who is steering the ship can always tell exactly the direction in 
which the ship is headed. 


luff (of a sail)—The weather edge; that is, the edge toward the 
wind. To luff, in sailing, is to bring a vessel’s bow more 
toward the wind. 

lug—A type of sail of which there arethree principal kinds: dipping 
lug, balance lug, and standing lug. A lug sail is four-sided 
and is hung from a yard which is mounted on a mast in a fore 
and aft position. See illustration of lugger, page 201. 

lugger—A boat using a lug sail. 


main—In all rigs of vessels the word “‘main’’ applies alike to the 
principal mast and the principal sail it carries. Generally in 
ships equipped with two or more masts the second from the bow 
is the mainmast, although in some rigs, such as ketches and 
yawls, the mast nearest the bow is the main. 

marine—A manin the naval service servingsomething likea soldier 
on board a warship. Nowadays the duties of marines often 
take them ashore where their services are identical with those 
of soldiers. 

mariner—<Anciently a first-class or able-bodied seaman. 

martingale—The rope extending downward from the jib-boom 
to the ‘‘dolphin striker.” Its duties are those of a stay, or brace. 

mast—A long piece or system of pieces of timber or metal placed 
nearly perpendicularly to the keel of a vessel to support rigging, 
wireless antenne, halyards, etc. 

master—The captain of a merchant vessel. 


310 APPENDIX 


mate—literally the master’s assistant. There may be as many as 
four or five mates on a ship, rated first, second, third, etc. They 
are officers next in rank to the master. 

mess—<At sea a company of men or officers who eat or live together. 

*midships—The same as AMIDSHIPS. 

mile—A nautical mile equals one sixtieth of a degree of latitude, 
and varies from 6,046 feet at the equator to 6,092 in latitude 
60 degrees. 

mizzen—Generally the third mast from the bow of a ship carrying 
three or more masts is called the mizzenmast. The sails set 
from this mast have the word “‘mizzen”’ prefixed to their names, 
as mizzen topsail, mizzen topgallant sail, etc. Also parts of 
the mast prefix the word, as mizzen topmast. 

moonraker (or moonsail)—In square-rigged ships the sail set 
above the skysail. (Very rare.) 

moor—To moor is to make a ship fast to a mooring which is a kind 
of permanent anchor to which a buoy is attached. 

Mother Carey’s chicken—A small seabird, properly called the 
stormy petrel (Procellaria pelagica). 


nautical mile—See MILE. 

naval architecture—The science of designing vessels. 

navigation—The science which enables seamen to determine their 
positions at sea and to lay down courses to be followed. 

nun buoy—A buoy which shows abovewater inthe shapeof a cone. 


oakum—A substance to which old ropes are reduced when picked 
to pieces. It is used in calking the seams of boats and in stop- 
ping leaks. 

oar—<An instrument used in propelling boats by hand. It may 
be of any length over four or five feet, although, as it is 
meant to be operated by man power, it must be limited in size 
so as not to constitute too great a weight. It is made up of a 
handle, a shaft, and a flat section meant to come in contact with 
the water. At about one third of the distance from the handle 
to the end of the blade it rests in a special fitting called an oarlock 


APPENDIX oll 


orarowlock. By submerging the blade in the water and pulling 
the handle in a direction at right angles to the length of the oar 
it tends to propel the boat. It differs from a paddle in that a 
paddle does not rest in a lock. A sweep is a very large oar, 
generally operated by several men. 

oilskins— Waterproof coats and trousers worn over other clothing 
at sea. 

on soundings—When a ship is in water shallow enough to permit 
the depth to be easily ascertained by means of the lead she is 
said to be on soundings. At sea the expression fo sound means 
to learn the depth of the water by means of the lead. 

outboard—Board means the side of a vessel; therefore outboard 
means outside her or beyond the gunwale. 

outrigger—A type of small boat common in the East Indies is one 
made up of a narrow hull kept from overturning by a small 
timber floating in the water parallel to the hull and made fast 
to the hull by means of crossbars. This type is known as an 
outrigger canoe. The outrigger is the small float that keeps the 
canoe from capsizing. For illustration see page 17. 

overboard—Over the side of a ship. 


.packet—A small passenger or mail boat. 

paddle—A kind of oar. In use, however, a paddle uses no leverage 
except what is offered by the hands of the operator. 

paddle-wheel—A large wheel sometimes used by steamboats and 
on which flat boards are so arranged that when the wheel turns 
the boards come in contact with the water, thus propelling the 
boat. 

painter—A rope attached to the bow of an open boat, by which 
the boat may be tied. 

peak—The upper end of a gaff. Also the uppermost corner of a 
sail carried by a gaff. 

peak halyards—The halyards or ropes by which the peak is ele- 
vated. 

pier—A long narrow structure of wood, steel, or masonry, built 
from the shore out into the water, and generally used for the 
transfer of passengers and goods to and from ships. 


312 | APPENDIX 


pilot—A man qualified and licensed to direct ships in or out of a 
harbour or channel. He boards the outgoing ship as she sails 
and is taken off, once the ship is outside the restricted waters that 
he is licensed to take her through, by a pilot boat. Incoming 
ships take pilots from the pilot boat as they approach the re- 
stricted waters where pilots are needed. 

Plimsoll mark—A mark placed on the sides of ships by Lloyds or 
some other marine insurance firm, to show how deeply they may 
be laden. As a cargo comes aboard, a ship sinks in the water, 
but the insurance is void if the Plimsoll mark is sunk below the 
water line. 

point—The card of a mariner’s compass is generally divided into 
thirty-two parts. These are the points of the compass. Now- 
adays compasses are more and more being divided into degrees, 
but still the points are generally shown as well. Reef points— 
short ropes hanging in rows across sails to make it possible to 
tie a part of the sail into a restricted space so as to present less 
surface to the wind. 

poop—Properly, an extra deck on the after part of a vessel. 

port—The left-hand side of a vessel when one is facing the 
bow. 

port tack—A sailing vessel ison the port tack when under way with 
the wind blowing against her port side. 

porthole—An opening in the side of a vessel. The term generally 
refers to the round windows common on most ships. 

prau—The Philippine name for a type of canoe. Praus may or 
may not have outriggers. 

propeller—A heavy apparatus somewhat similar to an electric 
fan in appearance, which, when mounted on the end of a shaft 
outside the stern of a vessel, below the water line, and set to 
turning by the engines, moves the ship through the water. 

prow—The cutwater of a ship 

punt—A small flat-bottomed boat, generally square ended. 


quarter—That section of a ship’s side slightly forward of the stern. 
The port quarter is on the left side and the starboard quarter 
is on the right to the observer facing forward. 





APPENDIX 313 


quartermaster—A petty officer on board ship, whose duties have 
to do almost exclusively with steering the ship and with other 
tasks about the bridge. 

quay—An artificial landing place, generally of greater area than a 
pier. 

quinquireme—An ancient ship propelled by five banks of oars. 


raft—A group of any timbers bound together to form a float. 

ratlines—Small lines crossing the shrouds of a ship and forming 
the steps of a ladder by means of which sailors may mount the 
masts. Pronounced “‘rat-lins.”’ 

reef—A low ridge of rock usually just below the surface of the 
water. (2) To reef a sailis to reduce the area spread to the 
wind by tying part of it into a restricted space. 

reef point—See POINT. 

revenue cutter—A ship operated by a government to prevent 
smuggling and otherwise to enforce the law. 

ribs—The members which, with the keel, form the skeleton of a 
vessel. 

riding lights—The lights a ship is required by law to carry at 
night while anchored. 

rig—The manner in which the masts and sails of a vessel are fitted 
and arranged in connection with the hull. 

rigging—The system of ropes on a vessel by which her masts and 
sails are held up and operated. 

roadstead—A place of anchorage at a distance from the shore. 

row—To propel a boat by means of oars is to row. 

royal—In the built-up mast of a square-rigged ship the fourth 
section above the deck is the royalmast. Its complete name 
prefixes the name of the mast above which it rises, as fore royal- 
mast. The sail on the royalmast is named accordingly, as 
fore royal. The royal yard is the yard from which the royal 
sail is spread. 

rudder—A flat, hinged apparatus hung at the stern of a ship, 
by the movement of which the ship is steered. 

running lights—The lights that a ship is required by law to carry 
at night while under way. 


314 APPENDIX 


sail—A sheet of canvas or other material which, when spread to 
the wind, makes possible the movement of a vessel. For various 
sails in use see illustration, page 213. 

schooner—A fore-and-aft rigged vessel with two or more masts, 
the foremost of which is the foremast. See page 201. 

scout cruiser—A very fast and lightly armoured modern warship 
smaller than a battle cruiser but larger than a destroyer, used 
for scouting. 

scow—A large flat-bottomed boat without powerand of many uses. 

screw propeller—Sce PROPELLER. 

scuppers—Openings in the bulwarks of a ship to carry off any 
water that may get on the deck. 

seam—The space between two planks in the covering of a vessel. 
It is in the seam that the calking is placed. 

seamanship—The art of handling ships. 

sextant—The instrument in almost universal use at sea for measur- 
ing the altitude of the sun and other celestial bodies. From 
this the latitude and longitude may be worked out. 

sheepshank—A knot. For illustration see page 193. 

sheer—The straight or curved line that the deck line of a vessel 
makes when viewed from the side. | 

sheet—The rope attached to a sail so that it may be let out or 
hauled in as occasion may require. 

ship—A term applied indiscriminately to any large vessel, but 
among seamen it means a sailing vessel with three masts on all 
of which square sails are set. For illustration see page 201. 

shoal—A shallow place in the water. 

shoot the sun—A bit of nautical slang, meaning to determine the 
altitude of the sun with a sextant. 

shrouds—Strong ropes forming the lateral supports of a mast. 
Nowadays they are usually wire rope. 

skiff—A small open boat. In different localities it is of different 
design. Occasionally fairly good-sized sailing vessels are called 
skiffs. 

skipper—The master of a merchant vessel, called, by courtesy, 
captain ashore and always so at sea. 

skysail—The square sail sometimes set above the royal. It 


APPENDIX 315 


carries also the name of the mast on which it is set, as main 
skysail. 

sloop—Sailing vessel with one mast, like acutter but having a jib 
stay, which a cutter has not. A jib stay is a support leading 
from the mast to the end of the bowsprit on which a jib is 
set. 

smack—The name given indiscriminately to any sort of fishing 
vessel using sails. 

snow—A vessel formerly common. It differs slightly from a 
barque. It has two masts similar to the main and foremasts of 
a ship, and close behind the mainmast is a trysail mast. This 
vessel is about extinct. 

sounding— Determining the depth of water and the kind of bottom 
with the lead and line. 

southwester—(pronounced sou-wester)—A waterproof hat with 
the widest part of the brim at the back. 

spanker—The fore-and-aft sail set on the mizzenmast of a square- 
rigged ship. Sometimes called the driver. 

spar—A spar is any one of the timber members of a vessel’s gear. 

spinnaker—A racing sail of immense spread reaching from the 
topmast head to the end of a spinnaker boom which is a spar 
set out to take it. Sometimes it is possible for the same sail 
to be made to perform the services of a balloon jib, by carrying 
the spinnaker boom out until the end to which the sail is made 
fast is beside the end of the bowsprit. 

splice—(Verb) To join rope by interweaving the strands. (Noun) 
The joint made in rope by interweaving the strands. 

spritsail—A sail common before the introduction of the jib. Itisa 
small square sail set on a yard hung below and at right angles 
to the bowsprit. Sometimes, formerly, a short vertical mast 
was erected at the end of the bowsprit, and from this was set 
the sprit topsail. 

squadron—Part of a fleet of naval ships under a flag officer. 

squall—A sudden and very strenuous gust of wind or a sudden 
increase in its force. Small storms that come up quickly are 
often called squalls. 

square rigged—That method of disposing of sails in which they 


316 APPENDIX 


hang across the ship and in which they are approximately 
rectangular in shape. 

starboard—The right-hand side of a vessel to a person facing the 
bow. 

stays—Supports made of hemp or wire rope supporting spars, or, 
more especially, masts. 

staysails—Sails set on the stays between the masts of a ship or as 
headsails. 

stem—The foremost timber of a vessel’s hull. 

stern—The rear end of a vessel. 

stern castle—In ancient times an erection built at the stern of a 
ship to assist in its defense. 

stevedore—A man whose task it is to stow the cargoes of ships 
and to unload cargoes. 

stoke hold—That compartment in a steamship from which the 
fires under the boilers are stoked or tended. 

stoker—A man who stokes or feeds the fires beneath the boilers 
of a ship. 

stow—To stow a cargo is to pack it into a ship so that it will not 
shift as the vessel pitches and rolls. 

studding sails—On square-rigged ships narrow supplementary 
sails are sometimes set on small booms at the sides of the prin- 
cipal square sails. These are studding sails. 

submarine—A ship which is so designed as to be able to dive be- 
neath the surface. 

supercargo—A member of a ship’s crew whose duties have only 
to do with superintending transactions relating to the vessel’s 
cargo. 

superdreadnaught—A battleship of considerably greater strength 
than the original British battleship Dreadnaught, which gave 
its name to a class of ships. 

swamp—To be swamped is to have one’s boat filled with water, 
but not necessarily to sink. 

sweeps—Very large and clumsy oars, sometimes used on sailing 
ships to move them in calms, or in narrow places where it is 
impracticable to use their sails. They are also sometimes used 
on barges and rafts. 


APPENDIX 317 


swell—An undulating motion of the water, always felt at sea after 
a gale. 


tack—To tack in sailing is to change the course of a vessel from 
one direction or tack to another by bringing her head to the 

“ wind and letting the wind fill her sails on the other side, the 
object being to progress against the wind. 

taffrail—The sternmost rail of a vessel, that is, the rail around the 
stern. 

tarpaulin—A waterproofed canvas. Formerly it was waterproofed 
by the application of tar. 

telltale—An inverted compass, generally mounted on the ceiling 
of the captain’s cabin. Thus, without going on deck, or even 
without lifting his head from his pillow, the captain can check 
up the course the helmsman is steering. 

tender—A small vessel employed to attend a larger one. 

tholes or thole pins—Pegs fitted into holes in a boat’s gunwale 
and between which oars are placed when rowing. 

throat—That part of a gaff that is next to the mast, and the ad- 
joining corner of the sail. 

throat halyard—The rope that elevates the throat. 

thwart—Athwart means across, and in a boat the seats are called 
the thwarts, because they are placed athwart or across the boat. 

tiller—The handle or beam at the top of the shaft to which the 
rudder is attached, and by which the rudder is turned. It is 
in use only on comparatively small vessels. 

tonnage—The measure of a ship’s internal dimensions as the basis 
for a standard for dues, etc. 

top—In square-rigged ships the platform built on the masts just 
below the topsails, and to which the sailors climb by means of 
the ratlines. ‘The name of the mast on which the top is located 
is prefixed, as, main top, mizzen top, etc. 

topmast—lIn a mast built up of two or more parts the topmast 
is the second from the deck. 

topgallant mast—In a mast built up in sections the topgallant 
mast is the third section above the deck. 

topsail—The second sail from the deck on any mast of a square- 


318 APPENDIX 


rigged ship. Sometimes ships have lower and upper topsails, 
but in this case each of these is narrower than the ordinary 
topsail. The name of the mast on which the topsail is set is 
prefixed, as, fore topsail, main topsail, etc. On fore-and-aft 
rigged vessels the topsail is a triangular sail set between the gaff 
and the topmast. 

topgallant sail—The third sail from the deck on any mast ofa 
square-rigged ship, except when the ship is equipped with lower 
and upper topsails, in which case the topgallant sail is the 
fourth. 

topsail schooner—A schooner which, on the foremast, spreads 
a square topsail. 

torpedo boat—A small, fast ship of war built to use torpedoes as 
its major weapons. This type was common during and after 
the Spanish-American War, but became extinct, or practically 
so, after the introduction of the torpedo-boat destroyer. 

torpedo-boat destroyer—See DESTROYER. 

tramp—The name usually given to merchant freighters that have 
no regular routes. They carry almost any cargoes that offer, 
and may carry them to almost any port. 

trawler—A vessel usually driven by power and used in fishing. 
It tows a heavy net called a trawl. 

trick—At sea, the time allotted to a man to be at the wheel or on 
any other duty. 

trireme—lIn ancient times,a ship propelled by three banks of oars. 

trysails—Small sails used in bad weather when no others can be 
carried, or, occasionally, for rough work. 

trysail mast—In old ships a mast for hoisting a trysail. (Seldom 
seen. ) 

tug—A small, powerful vessel usually propelled by steam and 
used to assist larger ships about protected waterways. Tugs 
are also used to tow barges or almost anything that can float. 
In the narrow waters of harbours and particularly in going 
alongside piers and quays, large ships need the assistance that 
these small vessels give them. There are also larger tugs for 
use in towing barges or other vessels at sea. These are known 
as seagoing tugs. 


APPENDIX 319 


turret—An armoured turntable in which the larger guns of war- 
ships are mounted. 


turret steamer—A steamer which, below the water line, is similar 
to other ships, but which above the water line has its sides turned 
abruptly in, so that its main deck is greatly narrower than its 
water-line beam. For illustration see page 131. 

twin screw—A ship equipped with two propellers is said to be a 
twin screw ship. 


umiak—An open boat used by the Eskimos and some Northern 
Indians. It is made up of a frame covered with skins. Its 
size varies, but an average size would probably be in the neigh- 
bourhood of twenty feet in length. 


vessel—From the French vaissel. A general term for all craft 
larger than a rowboat. 
vinta—A Philippine name for one type of outrigger canoe. 


waist—Actually that part of a vessel between the beam and the 
quarter. In old ships with sterns highly raised it was that 
portion forward of this raised section—that is, the section of the 
deck that was lower than the rest. 

wake—The track a vessel leaves behind her on the surface of the 
water. 

watch—To stand a watch on board ship is to be on duty for a given 
time, usually, but not always, for four hours. 

water sail—A small sail sometimes set beneath the foot of a lower 
studding sail. Rare. 

ways—An incline built for a working foundation on which to 
erect the hulls of ships. When the ship is ready to be floated, 
it is slid, generally stern first, from the ways into the water. 

weather—As a nautical expression this term is applied to any 
object to windward of any given spot; hence, the weather side 
of a vessel is the side upon which the wind blows. A vessel is 
said to have wecthered a gale when she has lived safely through 
it. 

weigh—To lift the anchor from the bottom is to weigh anchor. 


320 APPENDIX 


well—A depression sometimes built in the decks of yachts or sail- 
boats which is not covered over by a deck. It is often called a 
cockpit, and is for the convenience and protection of passengers 
and crew. (2) An opening leading to the lowest part of the 
bilge, in which the depth of bilge water may be measured. 

whaleback—A disappearing type of steamer once common on the 
American Great Lakes. 

whaleboat—A boat that is sharp at both ends and is propelled by 
oars. This type was used by whalers, and is now common on 
ships of war, because of its seaworthiness, ease of handling, 
and sturdiness. 

whaler—A ship used in the whaling industry. 

wharf—A loading place for vessels. 

wheel—When used in its nautical sense, this expression refers to 
the wheel by which a ship is steered. 

wherry—lIn different localities wherries are of different sizes and 
designs. They are small boats, generally driven by oars. 

windjammer—A slang expression for a person who prefers sails 
to engines. 

windward—That side of a vessel or any other object upon which 
the wind is blowing is the windward side. An object which is 
to windward is in the direction from which the wind is blowing. 

wind sail—A tube of canvas, with wings of canvas at the top so 
arranged as to direct fresh air below decks. It is a kind of 
temporary ventilator. 

wing and wing—In a fore-and-aft vessel it is possible, when run- 
ning directly before the wind, to haul the sails on one mast out 
to starboard and those of another mast out to port. This is 
said to be sailing wing and wing. 

wreck—A wreck is the destruction of a ship. The ship herself 
or the remnants of her after the catastrophe. 

wreckage—Goods or parts of a ship cast up by the sea after a ship- 
wreck. 


xebec (pronounced “‘zebec’’)—A small three-masted vessel, lateen 
rigged, and often with an overhanging bow. Common in the 
Mediterranean. 


APPENDIX 32] 


yacht—A pleasure boat. The term is indefinite in application, 
and generally means only the more elaborate pleasure craft 
owned by the wealthy. 

yard—aA spar suspended from a mast for the purpose of spreading 
a sail. 

yaw—To yaw in a sailing vessel is to deviate from the true course. 
It is often the result of having an inexperienced man at the wheel. 

yawl—A sailing vessel equipped with two masts, the main and the 
jigger. (In England the jigger is often called the mizzen.) 
The mainmast is the larger of the two and supports one or more 
jibs, a fore-and-aft mainsail, and sometimes a topsail. The 
jiggermast carries a small fore-and-aft sail, and the mast is set 
astern of the tiller or wheel. For illustration see page 201. 


zenith—The point directly overhead. ) 












ne 





Ww ie Ue i 
‘a A 1. ; 







metal 


ag ay 
i at? ' 


i 
’ 
‘ 
4 
. 
‘ 
* 
1 ' 
ny, ay 
te ween 
weet nit 
" ye 
Ais} A 
eS gg 








ae 

















i 
; 
A: 








0 NANA 
3 0112 124960128 


